BBMP Commissioner N Manjunath Prasad has listed these lessons that the Palike has learnt from what the city suffered this season. He has assured to take proper precautionary measures before the next big rain strikes Bengaluru so that no lives are lost.
* Less capacity of storm water drains: The storm water drains built in the city does not have the capacity to sustain heavy rainfall. The capacity has to be increased in consultation with the concerned engineers.
* Removal of SWD encroachments: The biggest lesson that the civic body has learnt is about not taking any legal action against encroachers of the drains. The best example is the case of Kurubarahalli, where rains claimed four lives in a single night. While two people were washed away, two others were killed as the compound wall collapsed on them. All the houses were built on land that encroached on drains.
* De-silting of drains: Water overflowed from the drains due to silt accumulation. De-silting work has to be undertaken before the onset of monsoon.
* Planning of layouts: The topography of Bengaluru is varied, says Prasad. “HSR Layout is a very ill-planned layout. The topography has to be studied before developing a layout and only after that should they permit the construction of sites,” he adds.
Stricter norms for road contractors: From now on, says the commissioner, there will be stricter norms for contractors who undertake the road work. "If we find that a road is damaged before the maintenance period, the contractor will be blacklisted,” he warns.
LETTERS pointblank@deccanherald.co.in
The public have learnt lessons on where to make a dwelling, not to depend on government civic bodies for help, to go in for amphibian vehicles, to get properties insured well in advance, make a dwelling in upper floors and never on the ground floor.
But definitely, the government and BBMP have learnt nothing except making money for the upcoming elections. They are into modifying drains and laying of roads, with no proper planning.
Prakash D R
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Our Govt will not learn from the past experience. Only the number of casualties will be on the rise each year after the rainy season.The concerned authorities never chalk out a constructive plan to counter these situations. Unless and until stringent action is taken against these erring officials, the situation will not change in the future too.
Manu P Cherian
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Rains have played havoc and the ordinary man is paying a huge price. Illegal buildings, no rain water harvesting, clogging of drains due to dumping of debris are a few things which can be rectified immediately.
Citizens are not really blame-free as many constructions are not approved and have encroached upon raja kaluves. This could have happened due to bribes and greasing of palms of those responsible for approvals.
Improper cleaning of drains and dumping construction wastes, clogging of manholes, unplanned urbanization are all to blame.
Sahana Prasad
