Mayor M. Goutham Kumar, BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar and other senior officials on Friday visited Mylasandra on Mysuru road, where a portion of the retaining wall along the Vrishabhavathi river collapsed after heavy rain on Thursday, resulting in caving in of the road.
The Mayor and the Commissioner directed officials to take up the restoration work immediately and ensure that there is no further damage. Speaking after inspecting the area, the Mayor said the retaining wall was built around 20 years ago by the city municipal corporation administration.
“The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) had built a safety wall on top of the retaining wall. Owing to heavy rain and increased inflow of water, the retaining wall collapsed,” he said and added that restoration work of the retaining wall would commence as soon as possible.
BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar said to prevent the road from caving in further, the BBMP has for the time being placed sandbags and built temporary diversion bunds. “We will also make sure that it does not affect the road and water from the river does not overflow onto the road,” he said. Mr. Kumar said the BBMP crew carried out draining out of water on the Nayandahalli flyover and other areas.
‘Metro pillars safe for now’
The design team and other experts of the BMRCL visited the spot to inspect whether the elevated metro pillars were in any danger.
A BMRCL official told The Hindu , “As the pillars are around 20 meters from the spot, it is safe for now.” He also said they would monitor the situation closely and also see what can be done to prevent the pillars from being affected. The BBMP Commissioner said a meeting of officials of the NHAI and BMRCL would be convened soon.
Assessment of SWD works
The Urban Development Department (UDD) wants an assessment of all major storm water drain (SWD) works undertaken recently. This comes in the wake of the collapse of a portion of the retaining wall along the Vrishabhavathi river after heavy rain on Thursday.
Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Development Department, on Friday wrote to the BBMP to form a team to undertake the assessment.
The letter also stated, “An inquiry may be held into the incident to ascertain what went wrong. Also the details of the work executed, the amount spent by the BBMP on the said stretch of SWD etc may also be provided to the government in the form of a report, right away.”
In the last week of May, the UDD had written to the BBMP asking it to take pre-emptive and preparatory measures to mitigate adverse effects of monsoon.
