JOIN USHeavy rainfall in the City over the past few days has exposed the poor civic infrastructure despite several desilting exercises taken up by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
Since April 19, the BWSSB call centre has received more than 330 calls on rain-related grievances - overflowing manholes and blocked underground drains.
Poor maintenance of stormwater drains (SWD) and the underground drains (UGD) which criss-cross most parts of the City has resulted in sewage flowing through SWD and manholes overflowing with rain water. Most of the calls were received from Vannarpet, Shivajinagar, Kasturinagar in NGEF Layout, Neelasandra and Chamarajpet. The residents of these areas have been complaining of rain-related problems for the past many years. However, the officials have chosen to turn a blind eye to the people's woes.
Purushothama, a resident of Kasturinagar in NGEF Layout says that sewage flows in the stormwater drains and the manholes were blocked. “The recent rains have further worsened the situation. The Cauvery water that we receive for drinking purpose has mixed with the sewage water resulting in contamination. This is a BDA Layout and has all the facilities. But unfortunately, the area has very bad infrastructure in terms of stormwater drains and underground drains. Despite several complaints to the BWSSB about contamination, no one has bothered to attend to our grievances,” he added.
However, T Venkataraju, Engineer-in-Chief, BWSSB, says that the complaints were frequent from low-lying areas where rainwater normally gets accumulated causing water logging and flooding. “There are few areas such as Shanthinagar, Avenue Road and Chickpet which normally gets flooded due to heavy rains. We have been conducting desilting work, but these areas do not have proper stormwater drains. As a result, rainwater gets diverted into the undergrounds drains leading to overflowing of manholes,” he said.
The Metro rail stretch on MG Road has also added to the flooding problems in the areas as the rainwater collected on either sides of the tracks is let down through a pipeline on to the road. The poorly maintained boulevard gets waterlogged during rains making it extremely difficult for pedestrians to walk on smooth tiles.