Flooding in Bengaluru: May take a year-and-a-half to permanently solve problem, says BBMP

Bengaluru: Besides the BBMP’s assurance of temporary solutions to tackle flooding in 74 most vulnerable areas in the city, it might take a year-and-a-half to find a permanent fix for the issue.

The civic body is working on stormwater drain remodelling to mitigate flooding, even as officials identified 198 flood-prone points in the city. The plans include building concrete retaining walls on either side of the rajakaluves.

"We have cleared 124 flood-prone points by building retaining walls under various grants. We have identified 27 severe flooding points and 47 moderate flooding locations. These points will be addressed once we secure the World Bank loan," BS Prahlad, BBMP's Engineer-in-Chief, told DH.

"The entire 856-km network of the rajakaluve will be remodelled by December next year," Prahlad added.

The BBMP listed out measures such as deploying pumps, setting up control rooms at sub-divisional levels, and erecting sluice gates on lakes to keep Bengaluru flood-free during the monsoon.

Officials painted red marks on underpasses, warning motorists not to use them when water levels go beyond the marks. "Some underpasses will be barricaded whenever it rains," an official said.