BBMP yet to address flooding woes in 74 vulnerable places

Bengaluru: Some parts of the city are likely to face the brunt of heavy rains as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is yet to tackle flood-vulnerable areas.

A majority of such places are situated in BBMP’s East, RR Nagar, West, and Mahadevapura zones. However, the civic body claims to have cleared about 124 areas that have a history of flooding.

These flood-prone areas are situated along the stormwater drains. Of the 198 areas identified, the BBMP believes about 65% were attended to under different programmes, including the Rs 1,060-crore grant released by the government in 2019, another Rs 1,500 crore sanctioned in 2022, and Rs 313 crore released in 2023.

Of the 74 vulnerable locations, about 25 are classified as severely vulnerable and the remaining 49 as moderate.

Ahead of the monsoon, the BBMP has activated the zonal disaster control rooms and created 64 divisional WhatsApp groups to attend to complaints.

Officials said 36 cameras had been installed at all underpasses where water stagnation is generally reported.

Other than the flooding of roads, the recent rains have resulted in the uprooting of many trees. On Thursday, 70 trees fell after a short spell of rainfall. A day before, the BBMP received complaints about 152 uprooted trees.