The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike faces a daunting task of clearing encroachments on storm-water drains across the City, which it says are the root cause of rain water flooding and overflowing.
BBMP sources told Deccan Herald a whopping 468 encroachments had been identified across the four valley’s in the City.

“We’ve divided remodelling into 15 packages under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. The number of encroachments removed so far is 159. The BBMP still has to remove/clear 309 more of these encroachments. A survey of them is in progress. Action would be initiated shortly,” officials said on condition of anonymity.

Drive
With flooding of many low-lying areas owing to rains, the BBMP has begun a drive with the recent demolition of an illegal encroachment at Kempegowda Nagar, near Chamarajapet, where a building was constructed adjacent to the SWD wall in gross violation of building bye-laws, they said.

“This is just the tip of the ice-berg. About 50 per cent of new constructions identified by us in Bangalore are built by the side or even over the SWD. A notice would be served on the owners, after which we would initiate steps to remove the encroached parts. There are instances where political interference or lobbying by builders/developers has delayed recovering land. The police have also refused to register an FIR on those who have violated norms and encroached on SWDs. The legal process is also time-consuming,” they added.
The officials note that flooding in low-lying areas is also a result of layouts planned and built on dried-up lake/tank beds.

‘Our hands tied’
 “We can definitely minimise damage and prevent excess overflow during incessant rains. But our hands are tied. Social and political problems also come in the way. At Nayandahalli on Mysore Road, 24 properties have been issued notices by the Deputy Commissioner (Bangalore Urban) for encroachments. We are taking steps to remove them. Officials from bureaucrats to engineers are willing to execute work, desilt and widen the drain (Rajakaluve) on international standards. But where is the land?” asks a BBMP official.

Though SWDs are designed for a certain capacity to facilitate free flow of rain water, sewage water and animal carcass continue to flow throughout the year.

Hampers
“Some SWDs have been encroached by land grabbers who have dumped truckloads of mud and constructed buildings. This hampers the very purpose of the SWDs,” says another official.

RS 650 CRORE EXERCISE
Remodelling of SWDs envisages redesigning, desilting, widening and reconstruction of existing ‘Rajakaluve’ (primary drain of SWDs) under the JNNURM at a cost of Rs 650 crore. The four valleys scheduled for remodelling during 2007-08 are Koramangala, Challaghatta, Hebbal and Vrishabhavathi.
STUP Consultants, a Paris-based architectural firm with offices across the world, has been entrusted by BBMP to offer consultancy on the remodelling.

KEY NUMBERS
*Rs 650 crore allocated under JNNURM for                   
    remodelling 
*Rs 170 crore already spent in old BMP areas
*250 km of SWDs in City to be remodelled
*10 per cent of property tax collected by BBMP to be  
    diverted to SWD cess