Residents living in the low-lying Pushpagiri Layout adjacent to Hosakerehalli lake were in for a rude shock around 2 a.m. on Sunday when water gushed into their homes after the corner bund of the waterbody breached.
Residents blamed the Bengaluru Development Authority (BDA) contractor for the lapse causing the breach. They alleged that the contractor had cut opened a part of the bund to a lay pipeline and connect it to a storm-water drain. Owing to incessant rain on Saturday night, the inflow into the lake increased, resulting in bund breaching, they said, and added that the breach was about 25-ft wide.
“I was asleep when the lake breached. All of a sudden, water gushed into out house. The house was filled with almost 3 ft of water and I was stuck inside,” said Shalini Bhuvanendra, a resident of the layout.
A car stuck in a slush-filled road near Hosakerehalli.
Another resident, Lokesh Singh, said, “It was like a stream entering the house. We were so frightened. We were asked to move out of the house immediately. Owing to poor drainage in the locality, residents living in the low-lying area are facing a lot of problem.”
Lakshminarayana, another resident, added, “We have been living in the layout since 1992. There are about 300 to 350 families in the locality. We never faced this problem earlier. The BDA contractor blocked a natural drainage of the lake near Hayagriva Mandira by dumping loads of mud and opened the bund near the underpass. The bund breached following heavy rain and water gushed out from the lake.”
It took several hours for the authorities to fix the breach. Earthmovers were deployed to fill the gap with sandbags and stones.
BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar told The Hindu that a case would be registered against the contractor for the lapses. “The BDA had employed a contractor for restoration work. To drain out water, the contractor had cut opened the bund to lay a pipeline. The faulty work and heavy rain that lashed on Saturday night resulted the bund breaching. Lake water entered five or six houses in the layout located adjacent to the lake,” he said.
Debris being cleared from a road near Hosakerehalli.
Motorists using the underpass on Kerekodi Road were also put to hardship. As the road was filled with slush, it became almost impossible for motorists to use the underpass. Traffic movement was affected for hours on the road.
The residents also complained that Hoskerehalli lake is in a bad shape, with untreated water entering it from many localities and bund areas being filled with garbage. “Authorities are yet to initiate action against those who have encroached the lake area. The BDA is doing lake restoration work for more than four years, but there is no visible progress,” said one of them.
BDA Commissioner G.C. Prakash told The Hindu that they could not take up the rejuvenation work owing to cash crunch. As per the State government’s decision, the lake, spread to over 36 acres, would be handed over to the BBMP for maintenance, he said.
(With inputs from Melvy Jacob, Megha Maria Stanly)
