The flooding of several neighbourhoods in the city following heavy downpour recorded in the last few days has been attributed to the “missing links” in the stormwater drain network. The abrupt ending of drains, following discontinuation of works for various reasons, was said to be one of the key reasons for inundation of localities, especially those beyond the Outer Ring Road.
Even as the Mysuru City Corporation has claimed that it has put in additional men and machinery to address the damage and carry out relief work, the civic agency did not anticipate rains of this magnitude and prepared accordingly, and is now facing the flak. Residents in the affected areas seeking a permanent strategy to overcome such situations in the years ahead.
As per the MCC’s assessment, based on inspections, drawings of drains and estimates prepared by the engineers, a sum of ₹113 crore was required immediately to interconnect the missing links of stormwater drains for uninterrupted movement of rainwater into the respective water bodies.
MCC Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy told The Hindu that the MCC is writing to the government seeking a sum of ₹113 crore. In the absence of a link for water flow, waterlogging occurred wherever the natural path was missing. These works could not be completed under JNNURM.
“We never had rains of this magnitude perhaps in the last 25 years. No damage was caused by these missing drain links in the past. But the unprecedented rains over the last few days aggravated the situation. We have checked all the drains and works up to ₹25 lakh are being taken up using the MCC funds. Some drain works need funds to the tune of ₹10 crore-₹15 crore and the total sum needed is around Rs 113 crore,” he said.
Some drains are old and need to be strengthened and renovated. A few of them need to be widened for uninterrupted water movement. Some of these works require major grants and therefore the MCC is writing to the government, Mr. Reddy said.
The estimates were prepared based on the MCC engineers’ ward-wide study of stormwater drains. Flooding of roads and localities can be addressed to a large extent if all the stormwater drains are connected, the Commissioner said.
As far as the Bogadi lake is concerned, repair works have been taken up and problems are being addressed. The lake reached its brim after a long time and spilled over. The lake breach caused flooding of localities around Bogadi and the ring road.
