In Bommanahalli, residents worry about rains and drains

DH-PV Janaspandana: Water supply, overflowing sewage biggest issues in South B'luru assembly segment

Residents of the Bommanahalli assembly constituency in southern Bengaluru face a strange problem.

Although the area receives copious rain, it only brings misery to the people. Reason? Drainage is so poor that streets get flooded during heavy rains. If this wasn’t bad enough, residents also grapple with the poor tap water supply by the BWSSB and depend on costly tankers.

The problem of clogged drains and manholes and sewage overflowing on streets was the most common issue raised by residents at the Janaspandana — Citizens For Change programme organised by DH and Prajavani on Saturday.

With Bommanahalli MLA Satish Reddy in attendance, more than 200 residents from Jaraganahalli, Bilekahalli, Puttenahalli, HSR Layout and other localities spoke up about poor infrastructure.

Residents of Jaraganahlli said some of their complaints about sewage had been pending for five years. Those from Ashta Lakshmi Layout complained about how sewage overflows on the streets at least once a month and how the authorities do nothing for days. The main reason, residents said, is that manholes are not cleaned properly.

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Reddy asked the officials to address the issues in a timebound manner. “It’s not right to make people wait for weeks. Such issues should be resolved as soon as complaints are raised,” he said. Ward-level officials should also ensure the regular cleaning of the manholes so that these issues do not arise at all, he added.

Besides the MLA, over 75 officials from the BBMP, the BWSSB, Bescom, the police and other government agencies heard people’s problems and promised suitable action at the earliest.

Many participants asked the MLA to get stormwater drains in the area desilted and remodelled. Others pointed to the BBMP’s failure to finish the SWD works and cover the drains. Some suggested building retaining walls around the drains.

Reddy said things had improved over the years. “Back in 2008, we used to see utensils floating in rainwater. The situation has improved now.”

The MLA promised that the future would be better because the chief minister had provided Rs 200 crore for the specific purpose of developing stormwater drains in Bommanahalli. “We’ll spend this money on remodelling the SWDs,” he added.

Water woes

Reddy acknowledged the need for a more frequent supply of water in the area but said that wouldn’t be possible in the near future.

“We supply water twice a week. Given the pace at which Bengaluru is growing, it’s impossible to increase the frequency immediately,” he added.

He, however, promised to address the problem of low-pressure water supply and said officials would work on it.

Residents also asked for repairing borewells in the area. While the borewell in Puttenahalli has been defunct for nearly six months, a borewell in Paradise Colony has been lying useless for four years now because it hasn’t been provided with the connection.

The MLA directed the officials to make sure all borewells are working.

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