Residents demand that authorities restore the drain to its original condition and keep it uncovered.
Credit: DH PHOTO
Bengaluru: Residents of Kanakanapalya in the upscale neighbourhood of Jayanagar have endured repeated flooding, with sewage-mixed water entering homes during rains.
The blocked storm water drain linking Lalbagh Lake is said to be the cause, but neither the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) nor the Bengaluru Central City Corporation has acted to resolve the issue.
With the monsoon approaching, residents fear fresh flooding, even as RV Teachers College has undertaken restoration of the drain passing through its premises.
Flooding is so severe that three-feet deep water covers the road between RV Road signal and Ashoka Pillar circle for hours, disrupting traffic and affecting about 50 houses on 7th Cross Road and 7th Main Road.
The rajakaluve, earlier covered with concrete slabs, has been de-silted.
Residents want civic authorities to be directly involved in restoring the drain to its original condition and insist it remain uncovered.
Sharada Reddy, a resident of Kanakanapalya Road, said the rajakaluve is meant to receive water from all sides, but covering it with a slab pushes water onto the road.
“No law allows the rajakaluve to be converted into a parking space. The civic body has built a shoulder drain next to the rajakaluve, but it leads nowhere. After the rajakaluve path was diverted, it took seven hours for the rainwater to drain completely,” she said.
A resident living behind the college also complained of flood water entering her house and the street remaining submerged for hours during rains.
Initially, engineers of the Central City Corporation blamed the GBA for the maintenance of the rajakaluve. However, when DH contacted the GBA’s projects department in charge of storm water drain works, officials said the responsibility lay with the corporation. When DH again reached out to the corporation, its engineers said the drain restoration was being carried out by a private college.
A college office-bearer said the institution is also affected by flooding. “We tried to solve the problem by building an alternate drain. We are also desilting the old drain, which was blocked by a large tree,” he said.
Chickpet MLA Uday Garudachar said he was not aware of the issue. “No resident has raised a complaint with me,” he said.
Credit: DH Photo