Police put a spoke in SWD work

Closure of approach road will lead to troubles

Scenes of people vacating their homes with precious belongings were heartrending. On the other side, 35 persons were trapped in the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) workshop as more than half of the vicinity was submerged due to overflowing drains.

But all these could have been averted had the City traffic police heeded to the suggestions of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

In what appears to be a move to ensure smooth flow of traffic, the City police shot down the Palike’s idea to widen the stormwater drain near Sudhamnagar.

According to the BBMP officials, the vent of the SWD at Sudhamnagar was too small for water to flow through which resulted in flooding of the nearby low-lying areas last week.

In order to widening the vent space of the SWD, a tender was issued in December 2009.

The project worth Rs 4.5 crore was approved and a work order was issued, only to be shot down by the traffic police. Reason: The approach road towards the busy commercial parts of the town will be shut down resulting in chaos and troubles.

“We have approached the issue with the Bangalore police but are awaiting a plan to divert the traffic along this stretch. Once that is resolved we can carry forth with the project,” informed a BBMP official.

The Palike is expecting better sense to prevail upon the Police after this monsoon season and immediately take the requisite action to divert the traffic flow by December.

Also halting the progress of widening the SWD is the utility pipes which laid heavily below the road approaching Sudhamnagar.   

Poor drain system

At the other end of town at the Kino Theatre, an extremely sorry state of the drain system persists placing the BBMP in a predicament.

“We have no option in that location. Despite several inspections we are still unable to comprehend a way to ease the water problems in that junction below the railway line,” said an official.

However, as a last resort, the BBMP has now managed to keep a 25 horsepower motor to flush out water from the location if heavy downpour is expected through this season.