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The capital city of Karnataka has seen water logging in several parts owing to the heavy rains that has lashed the southern peninsula of India. The city roads turned into rivers and visuals emerged of rescuers using boats to evacuate stranded citizens.
Now, a video has gone viral on Twitter where the traffic police official is seen clearing the water logging near Echo World area of Bengaluru. The video was posted by the HAL Airport traffic police station's official twitter handle.
The 41-second clip shows a traffic police officer clearing the choked drain out of a waterlogged part of a road to let the water pass through the drains.
In a tweet, the HAL Airport traffic police station wrote, “Our officer Ms Nagamani and staff Mr Bheemashi clearing the water logging near echo world, situation slightly coming under control our officers and staffs clearing the traffic and traffic movement is getting faster."
After the video was posted, people started criticising the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for not taking any action to clear the choked drains and said that it was not traffic police official's job to clean it.
One person wrote on Twitter saying, “This is really bad ! That’s not his job and if at all he’s doing it for the sake of the city, he should be provided with gloves, shovels and other tools. He can’t clear gutter with his bare hands ! You BBMPCOMM must be ashamed. Another user wrote, "Neither their job profile nor their responsibility! When the municipality fails to deliver & is intent on only making money, visuals like these emerge." Some other wrote, “Really sad that BTP has to be doing someone else's job. BBMP should be disbanded and all officers jailed."
Earlier in the day, the HAL Airport traffic police station said that the water situation in echo world still not in control. It had asked commuters to avoid the particular route.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, the Karnataka government decided to "mercilessly" remove properties blocking rainwater flow. “Our Municipal Corporation officers have identified 10 bottlenecks. In a day or two, the demolition drive will start. We have told the officers to be merciless while implementing the drive without attending to any phone calls," Karnataka Revenue Minister R Ashoka told reporters after a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, on the flood situation.
CM Bommai said there was waterlogging in many residential layouts because the developers did not build a proper drain. He added that all such blocks would be removed.
“Tomorrow (Thursday), I will visit all those places where the problem occurred and give directions," Bommai said.
He had said the State government has released ₹1,500 crore for the construction of drains. The Chief Minister said the tender process has been completed and the work would start immediately. There was continuous rain in the past six months and heavy downpour in the last three months.
Since June 1, Karnataka has received 820 mm of rainfall, affecting 27 districts and 187 villages, impacting a population of 29,967. News agency PTI said in a report on Tuesday that nine mm rainfall has been recorded in a 24-hour span affecting 20 villages in Ramanagara, Chamarajanagara and Mandya districts and impacting lives of 3,000 people