<p>Mayor promises action against apartments encroaching SWDs<br /><br />Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy on Monday vowed to act sternly against apartments encroaching upon the Rajakaluves (stormwater drains (SWDs)/canals), which led to the flooding in the city on Thursday and Friday.<br /><br />At least three lakes breached their bank, submerging many areas, following torrential rains on the nights of Thursday and Friday. The Madivala ward, which the Mayor represents, was among the worst-affected areas as the Madivala lake swelled.<br /><br />The Mayor, along with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, chief secretary Arvind Jadhav and BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, visited the flood affected areas in Madivala, Kodichikkanahalli and Bilekahalli, where on Saturday the Bilekahalli lake breached its banks.<br /><br />Manjunath Reddy told the officials that BBMP had been lethargic in pursuing cases of lake and stormwater drain encroachment in the court. As a result, the encroachers got a stay in the court.<br /><br />“There is a very slack effort in dealing with cases of encroachment. Those who constructed buildings on the Rajakaluves manage to get a stay. We will video-shoot all such buildings and present the footage in court as evidence. These structures must be removed if we want to prevent flooding in future,” said the Mayor.<br /><br />Overflowing continued in Madivala and Kodichikkanahalli continued, although the level subsided substantially. <br /><br />On Friday, on Ramalinga Reddy’s direction, a compound wall and soil dumped at the waste weir of the lake were removed. As a result, water level receded. Fishing continued in Madivala and surrounding places.</p>.<p>Retaining wall leads to flooding<br /><br />Kodichikkanahalli is a low-lying area in south east Bengaluru and water-stagnation during monsoon is nothing new or residents. <br /><br />“When Arakere and Hulimavu lakes overflow, the excess water flows downstream of Madiwala Lake and then goes to Agara Lake. Due to the construction of a retaining wall, the interconnecting channels located between the three layouts in Kodichikkanahalli was blocked leading to flooding. <br /><br />While one storm water drain has not been de-silted before monsoon, work on the other drain was stopped due to a legal dispute. If it rains further, there is going to be flood-like situation again unless provision is made for the free flow of water downstream,” says 69-year-old Sethu Madhav, who has been staying in Anugraha since a decade. </p>
<p>Mayor promises action against apartments encroaching SWDs<br /><br />Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy on Monday vowed to act sternly against apartments encroaching upon the Rajakaluves (stormwater drains (SWDs)/canals), which led to the flooding in the city on Thursday and Friday.<br /><br />At least three lakes breached their bank, submerging many areas, following torrential rains on the nights of Thursday and Friday. The Madivala ward, which the Mayor represents, was among the worst-affected areas as the Madivala lake swelled.<br /><br />The Mayor, along with Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, chief secretary Arvind Jadhav and BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, visited the flood affected areas in Madivala, Kodichikkanahalli and Bilekahalli, where on Saturday the Bilekahalli lake breached its banks.<br /><br />Manjunath Reddy told the officials that BBMP had been lethargic in pursuing cases of lake and stormwater drain encroachment in the court. As a result, the encroachers got a stay in the court.<br /><br />“There is a very slack effort in dealing with cases of encroachment. Those who constructed buildings on the Rajakaluves manage to get a stay. We will video-shoot all such buildings and present the footage in court as evidence. These structures must be removed if we want to prevent flooding in future,” said the Mayor.<br /><br />Overflowing continued in Madivala and Kodichikkanahalli continued, although the level subsided substantially. <br /><br />On Friday, on Ramalinga Reddy’s direction, a compound wall and soil dumped at the waste weir of the lake were removed. As a result, water level receded. Fishing continued in Madivala and surrounding places.</p>.<p>Retaining wall leads to flooding<br /><br />Kodichikkanahalli is a low-lying area in south east Bengaluru and water-stagnation during monsoon is nothing new or residents. <br /><br />“When Arakere and Hulimavu lakes overflow, the excess water flows downstream of Madiwala Lake and then goes to Agara Lake. Due to the construction of a retaining wall, the interconnecting channels located between the three layouts in Kodichikkanahalli was blocked leading to flooding. <br /><br />While one storm water drain has not been de-silted before monsoon, work on the other drain was stopped due to a legal dispute. If it rains further, there is going to be flood-like situation again unless provision is made for the free flow of water downstream,” says 69-year-old Sethu Madhav, who has been staying in Anugraha since a decade. </p>
