The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to pay compensation to all the 353 families whose houses were flooded after the bund of Hulimavu lake was breached on November 24. This includes the 197 families whose claims were initially excluded as officials said they would decide the quantum of compensation on a case-by-case basis.
In the first phase, the BBMP compensated 156 households mainly from Krishna Layout, which bore the brunt of the breach. The remaining 197 houses are spread across six other layouts, sources said.
Civic chief B.H. Anil Kumar on Friday tweeted that the 197 families had earlier been excluded as they were ‘economically stronger’ and only their vehicles had sustained damage. “BBMP has decided to pay ₹50,000 each as compensation…” he tweeted.
Of the 353 affected households, the BBMP has identified five whose houses sustained some structural damage after the floods. Their owners will be given ₹95,000 each as compensation instead of ₹50,000.
According to BBMP officials, water entered nearly 700 houses and apartments in the areas surrounding the lake of which 353 were badly affected. Sources said that during a survey, the officials had excluded buildings where the basement parking had been converted into business/trade spaces.
“Earlier, the BBMP proposed to give ₹20,000 and ₹10,000 as compensation, based on the extent of damage. The civic body had also taken a call not to give compensation for damage to vehicles, as owners can claim insurance,” sources said and added that as per norms of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the compensation is just ₹3,800 per household.
“It was decided not to make any distinction between high income and low income groups,” the source said.
Meanwhile, the BBMP has prepared a ₹29 crore proposal for restoring basic infrastructure that was damaged in the incident, such as roads and drains. “The proposal will be sent to the government seeking funds under the Calamity Relief Fund,” said D. Randeep, Special Commissioner, BBMP.
Anti-encroachment drive
The civic body continued its drive to rid lakes of encroachments. On Friday, officials removed encroachments in Kundalahalli lake bed in K.R. Puram. Around 15 guntas of land was cleared of encroachment, and officials will be fencing the lake.
