All encroachments on rajakaluves will be removed: Bommai

With the government's image taking a beating over Bengaluru's water-logged roads, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday inspected five places in Mahadevapura that were flooded during the rains and ordered the removal of all encroachments.

Bommai also did some plain-speaking and took aim at the previous Congress-JD(S) government for encroachments and wondered how officials had issued licences to them.

“The shoddy work and the corruption of previous governments has brought Bengaluru to this situation,” Bommai said addressing the residents of Mahadevapura.

“The previous government (JD(S)-Congress coalition) spent Rs 800 crore on storm water drains. Where has the money gone? The encroachments of rajakaluves happened 10-15 years ago. While we will take the responsibility of evicting them, the previous governments are also answerable to the public."

Watch: Disrupting lives, Bengaluru rains intensify

The Bommai government has been pilloried by both the Opposition and a section of the public, including former Infosys director Mohandas Pai, after back-to-back floods in the city.

Pai has criticised state governments' inability to fix the infrastructure gaps of Bengaluru and has sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention.

During the recent rains, parts of the outer ring road (ORR), which hosts many important IT companies, was filled with knee-deep water for three consecutive days, triggering a torrent of social media jokes.

“Bengaluru has been attracting investments but the city has not been designed scientifically. In the last 7-10 years, Bengaluru was completely ignored. We have released Rs 1,500 crore to fix storm water drains,” Bommai said.

Encroachments

Bommai announced that his government will start a drive to mercilessly remove the encroachments, no matter how influential the violator.

“All big builders of Bengaluru have encroached the drains either to build a road or to construct a building. I am saying this as a chief minister. Whenever there is flooding, the discussion on encroachments starts. What were the officials, who are now complaining of encroachments, doing while issuing licences? he asked.

The chief minister also said he will order an inquiry into the expenditure made by the previous governments on storm water drains.

Sluice gates for all lakes

Bommai said all the lakes in the city will have sluice gates to control the release of water. He made the assurance after Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavalli requested Bommai to release funds for the construction of sluice gates.