Sensors in SWDs will alert civic body on flooding

BENGALURU: As part of the monsoon preparedness drive, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is installing sensors in stormwater drains. BBMP has prepared a list of 182 vulnerable locations in storm water drains in the city.

Of this, the corporation has identified 28 sensitive locations where sensors sending alerts need to be installed, and they claimed that work at 18 locations is already complete. The remaining 10 sensors will be completed by the end of this month. But citizens wonder what the point of this exercise is now, in the middle of the monsoon. They said it was eyewash, as it was very late.

“The locations have been chosen after a detailed study and past flooding experiences. There is no need to install sensors in all 182 vulnerable locations. With the help of one sensor, four to five connecting locations can be covered,” said a senior BBMP official.

The BBMP identified the locations with the help of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Authority.

“The official justified that the reason for installing sensors now was because Bengaluru experiences rainfall from mid-August to October-end, from Ganesha Chaturthi to Diwali. So this is the ideal time to instal the sensors. City drains can handle up to 120mm of water and beyond that, there is flooding,” the official said.  

SENSORS INSTALLED:

Dr Rajkumar Road (Magadi Road), Gali Anjaneyaswamy Temple, BMTC Shanthinagar (Koramangala Valley), Byraveshwara Industrial Estate Area, Mattikere, Ashwath Nagar, Kaverappa Layout (Vasanth Nagar), Shivajinagar, Pai Layout (Mahadevapura), Chikkabasavanapura, Kanakanagar (Bommanahalli), Central Silk Board, Kalappa Layout (HAL), Vrishabhavathi Nagar (Kottigepalya), Jnana Jyothi Nagar (Malathahalli), Srinivasa Nagar (Banashankari) and Doddabidarakallu.