BENGALURU: The trail of destruction caused by Friday’s flooding triggered the usual blame game between BBMP and BWSSB — the two agencies which execute infrastructure work without keeping each other in the loop.
“Over 500 houses in Gurudatta Layout and Dattatreya Nagar wouldn’t have seen flooding had both agencies coordinated and ensured the sewage line and stormwater drain’s retaining wall were strong. But they failed us,” Gurudatta Layout residents told STOI. “We got a sense of nature’s fury on the night of October 20 when water entered 20 houses after a portion of the retaining wall was damaged when BWSSB undertook manhole-repair work. The same place gave way on Friday evening,” residents added.
In fact, BBMP had taken objection to BWSSB’s repair work and lodged a complaint with Girinagar police. According to BBMP assistant executive engineer Raghavendra, who registered the complaint, BWSSB personnel led by AEE Nayeem Ulla Sherrif recently dug up three manholes on a five-feet road of Gurudatta Layout and did not close them properly. “Mud was used to close them instead of cement and concrete. The nearly 300ft-long drain dug to connect the manholes too was improperly closed. The work was done unprofessionally. As a result, heavy rain on October 20 damaged the SWD’s retaining wall and water entered 20 or more houses,” Raghavendra said, claiming BWSSB officials never sought permission to dig up the road.
Based on Raghavendra’s complaint, Girinagar police registered an FIR against Nayeem Ulla and others under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and a few sections of Indian Penal Code.
Ulla, however, denied the allegations and blamed BBMP officials for the mess. “Pointing fingers at BWSSB isn’t right; we are not entirely responsible. Construction work is undertaken by BBMP too,” he said, accusing the Palike of building the retaining wall and dumping the debris on BWSSB sewage lines. Due to heavy rain, the sewage line collapsed and retaining wall gave way, he added.
Caught in between the tug of war, residents said their tax money is being misused and they are suffering for no fault of theirs.
“If BBMP had built a strong retaining wall, this wouldn’t have happened. The civic administration needs to use our money wisely,” said Aishwarya K, a resident of Dattatreya Nagar.