George turns defensive, says city was flooded in 2010 too

Facing criticism from all quarters for failing to prevent floods in the city, Bengaluru Development Minister K J George on Tuesday tried to put up a defence by saying inundation was not a new phenomenon.

At a press conference, George flashed a September 2010 news clipping of flooding in the city. “The BJP was in power then,” the minister said. He went on to cite examples of flooding in BJP-ruled Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The state government, he said, had spent Rs 992.48 crore to improve stormwater drains in the last four years as against Rs 664 crore by the previous BJP government. “Works are under way, but they take time because of the process. Once a work is budgeted, it has to be approved by the Cabinet. A detailed project report is prepared based on which tenders are invited. Then, it needs approval from the high-powered committee,” he said.

The city needs Rs 800 crore per year over the next couple of years to fix the flooding problem. “That kind of investment is required to solve the problem,” George said.

“We have analysed the floods and its causes. They include drain blockage at Koramangala ST Bed and drain encroachment by BBMP buildings on JC Road. We have not been able to clear the encroachment because the buildings have a stay order from court. Then, there is an encroachment in Shanthinagar, where we are building a new drain. We need to build a diversion canal at the Madiwala lake. There are problems in Arakere lake at HSR Layout, KR Puram and Nanda Gokula Layout in my constituency (Sarvagnanagar),” he said. Besides encroachments, he said garbage also blocked the flow of rainwater.

However, the minister did not have a clear answer when asked why these problems were not identified earlier.

DH News Service