<p>Increased concretisation, blatant violations of National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders on buffer zones and failure to clear encroachments on drains caused flooding in the city earlier this month.</p>.<p>The report entitled ‘Frequent Floods in Bangalore: Causes and Remedial Measures’, prepared by T V Ramachandra, Vinay S and Bharath H Aithal, from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, explains the reasons that led to flooding in parts of the city during the torrential rain on August 14 and 15.</p>.<p>This is the IISc team’s second report on the city’s flooding. The first report was published in 2009. </p>.<p>“In 2009, when the report was prepared, the width of stormwater drains was 40 metres but it has now reduced to 15 metres. This a violation of NGT orders. But the government is blind to it,” Ramachandra told DH.</p>.<p>The NGT orders stipulate a buffer zone of 75 metres around lakes and that stormwater drains should be 50 metres wide and a buffer zone should also be maintained around them.</p>.<p>“In case of ST Bed Layout, which was the worst-affected locality, the drain is just 20 metres wide and is highly cluttered. This shows the apathy of bureaucrats and politicians,” he said.</p>.<p>Another issue is the process of terming catchment areas dead lakes and denotifying them. There is no such thing as a dead lake. If the government implements its idea of denotifying catchment areas as dead lakes, there will be more flooding, Ramachandra warned.</p>.<p>Giving the example of Pattandur Agrahara lake in Whitefield, he said both the government and land sharks had dried the connecting drains before encroaching on the dried-up area for urbanisation.</p>
<p>Increased concretisation, blatant violations of National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders on buffer zones and failure to clear encroachments on drains caused flooding in the city earlier this month.</p>.<p>The report entitled ‘Frequent Floods in Bangalore: Causes and Remedial Measures’, prepared by T V Ramachandra, Vinay S and Bharath H Aithal, from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, explains the reasons that led to flooding in parts of the city during the torrential rain on August 14 and 15.</p>.<p>This is the IISc team’s second report on the city’s flooding. The first report was published in 2009. </p>.<p>“In 2009, when the report was prepared, the width of stormwater drains was 40 metres but it has now reduced to 15 metres. This a violation of NGT orders. But the government is blind to it,” Ramachandra told DH.</p>.<p>The NGT orders stipulate a buffer zone of 75 metres around lakes and that stormwater drains should be 50 metres wide and a buffer zone should also be maintained around them.</p>.<p>“In case of ST Bed Layout, which was the worst-affected locality, the drain is just 20 metres wide and is highly cluttered. This shows the apathy of bureaucrats and politicians,” he said.</p>.<p>Another issue is the process of terming catchment areas dead lakes and denotifying them. There is no such thing as a dead lake. If the government implements its idea of denotifying catchment areas as dead lakes, there will be more flooding, Ramachandra warned.</p>.<p>Giving the example of Pattandur Agrahara lake in Whitefield, he said both the government and land sharks had dried the connecting drains before encroaching on the dried-up area for urbanisation.</p>