BBMP sets up teams to meet rain rage

60 emergency groups to be on call for a week; BWSSB clears all calls

After the initial jolt, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) decided to put their entire engineering staff on standby for the next one week to avoid any delay in taking remedial action in case of heavy downpour. It is stated that the Palike has as many as 60 emergency teams formed and ready for call on Sunday.

The special teams, to be deployed across the eight zones are being equipped with a lorry and few gangmen each to clear any debris on account of rain. The teams are with chainsaws and pumps to flush out water. Twelve teams are on the prowl in the South zone with 10 each in the East and West zones of the Palike.

The areas newly added to BBMP have as many as five teams each to overlook any problems related to rain.

Overflowing manholes and uneven stormwater drains seem to be the main cause for waterlogging in the City. Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) received more than 40 calls at their call centre lines for overflowing manholes on Friday.

T Venkataraju, Chief Engineer (Maintenance) said nearly all the complaints have been attended to and repair work is going on at few places. 

"Manholes are not meant for rain water and they do not have the capacity to retain so much water. It is evident that when more water enters the manholes, they will overflow. In many places, storm water drains are non-existent and residents let the rain water directly into the manholes. We are advising them not to do so, but this is still in practice," he said.

The only solution is to have a separate storm water drain to handle rain water.Even if the diameter of the manholes are increased, it will be helpful during the rainy season. During summer, however, water may not flow smoothly, if the diameter of the manhole is large, he added. 

At present, the City had sewerage pipelines stretching up to 243 km across the City, that lead to different treatment plants. For a stretch of nearly 80 km, the sewage pipelines lie directly under storm water drains in the City.

There are many manholes in the stretch which are connected to each other, so when it rains heavily manhole overflowing becomes evident.

Illegal encroachments on the stretch of the main SWD has not allowed the water to flow smoothly with full capacity as it is clogging the flow causing flooding and waterlogging.