When rain pounded the city for three days from Friday to Sunday, phones in Mysuru City Corporation’s (MCC) control room rang incessantly bringing in a flood of complaints ranging from blocked underground drainage to flooding of houses and tree falls.
The rains, which exposed chinks in the city’s civic infrastructure, brought to the fore inadequacies of the storm-water drain (SWD) network and the underground drainage (UGD) system in the city.
The run-off rainwater swept piles of garbage along with it and flowed along the roads, choking the drainage system. Houses in several localities were flooded due to the clogging of the drains. Manholes were also found overflowing in many places.
The misery of the residents was worsened with trees and their branches falling on the roads and electricity cables snapping, leading to road blockage and disruption of power supply.
With the monsoon round the corner, Krishnaraja Assembly constituency MLA M.K. Somashekar took stock of the situation at a meeting with MCC officials on Monday.
Mr. Somashekar not only shared his concern over safety of the citizens when trees collapse, but also made out a case for cleaning the drains of silt and other deposits. He highlighted the case of a four-year-old boy’s death in J.P. Nagar on Sunday after a snake slithered into his house along with floodwater from the drain and bit him.
MCC authorities said they acted on the hundreds of complaints they received during the three days by co-ordinating with zonal officials and gangmen for necessary action. Commissioner C.G. Betsurmath said the civic body has now activated three ‘Rapid Action Teams’ called Dhanush comprising six members each.
The teams comprising personnel from the engineering division will be provided vehicles and necessary equipment.
Also, Dr. Betsurmath said the civic body has taken up work on removal of silt from the drain on a war footing. Work was underway to remove silt from storm water drains also.
He added that the civic body has obtained permission from the Forest Department to prune weak branches of trees and to remove dead trees.
We will remove silt from the drains on a war footing, besides prune the trees of the weak branches.
C.G. Betsurmath
MCC Commissioner
We need to urgently improve the storm-water drain and underground drainage network.
M. Lakshmana
Convener, ACICM
