Bengaluru deluge: How poor planning added to the city's woes

The distress caused by torrential rainfall continues to haunt Karnataka’s Bengaluru as several areas remain inundated, leading to traffic bottlenecks, electricity and water cuts.

All government, private primary and high schools have been shut in Bengaluru East division in the wake of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast of heavy rainfall in the region today.

Several IT firms and start-ups in the city, known as India’s Silicon Valley, have resorted to work-from-home as incessant showers and marooned roads have affected their functioning.

However, all is still not lost as water has started receding in several flood-afflicted areas including Sarjapur Road and HSR limits.

Moreover, the drinking water supply which was hit owing to the inundation of pump houses at Thorekadanahalli (T.K. Halli), has now been restored, said Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB).

Has poor urban planning in Bengaluru worsened an already unusual wet monsoon?

Let’s look at this in detail:

Poor planning, climate change

Environmentalists have blamed poor urban planning in Bengaluru in the wake of its rapid expansion over the years, and climate change as the reasons behind the flooding, Reuters reported.

Bengaluru’s drainage system has not been designed to tackle severe downpours. PTI Photo

Lubaina Rangwala, programme head – urban development at World Resources Institute (WRI) has cited the lack of inclusion of climate and environmental risks in city planning as one of the reasons for the current situation in the city.

“It is difficult to decide whether Bengaluru is witnessing nature’s fury or a man-made disaster, but its devastating impact is out there for all of us to see. Environmental and climate risks have long been overlooked in city planning and, despite such disasters, it is yet to be mainstreamed in our masterplan,” Rangwala was quoted as saying by News18.

The drainage system of Karnataka’s capital has not been designed to tackle severe downpours. Garbage often chokes drains, thus limiting the flow of sewage, which cannot bear the weight of the ever-growing population, Mint reported.

As per Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the city’s stormwater drain (SWD) system, the length of drains of two of Bengaluru’s four valleys drains– Koramangala and Vrushabhavati valleys– has nearly been reduced by 50 per cent over the past century, reports Citizen Matters.

This comes as a concern as stormwater drains play a critical role in preventing floods, keeping lakes and other water bodies clean.

Schools have been shut, power and water supplies have also been affected in Bengaluru. PTI Photo

The repercussions of the encroachment of the primary drains (rajakaluves) of the Bellandur canal were visible as after heavy rains, water swelled into the residences in Spice Garden Layout.

If the 6.5-kilometre canal had not been encroached, it would have transferred rainwater from Bellandur to Varthur Lake and unloaded it in the Dakshina Pinakini River, Deccan Herald reported.

Alleging an administrative, political and corporate nexus behind Bengaluru’s woes, Leo Saldanha, coordinator of the Environment Support Group, told Deccan Herald, “Despite fierce opposition to allow urbanisation on the wetlands between Bellandur and Varthur, the government went ahead with its plan. The wetlands have been destroyed.”

Start-up CEOs speak out

Mohit Saxena, co-founder of InMobi group, took to LinkedIn to express his dismay.

“Every time I fall in love with Bangalore its traffic breaks my heart. Everything has collapsed in this rainy season absolutely no hope. Even four hours aren’t enough to cover 31 KM. Utterly disappointed for a city that has so much potential but its infrastructure is failing it,” Saxena wrote.

Niharika Gurbaxani, co-founder of View360degrees, compared Bengaluru to Gurugram and said the latter is better due to good metro connectivity and manageable traffic even during rains. She wrote on LinkedIn.

“No offence to the people in Bangalore but I think Gurgaon is much better for start-ups or living in general.”

What’s the solution?

Water expert Vishwanath S said the city needs to reform its building and stormwater designs keeping in mind the increased rainfall.

Vishwanath told Citizen Matters, “Bengaluru will need to rework its building design and stormwater design codes to deal with the increased rainfall, and also intensity of rainfall. We need to design for short bursts of 180 mm per hour intensity and for 200 mm per day rainfall. Roof slopes, rainwater pipes, storage and recharge structures and stormwater drains will all need to cater to this new regime of rainfall. We also need to improve our predictive powers and models of rainfall events.”

Bengaluru has faced 162 per cent more rainfall than average since 1 June. PTI Photo

Acknowledging the issue of illegal encroachment, Bengaluru civic body’s chief Tushar Giri Nath told News18 that they will work on it on a “war footing”.

“Our officials will clear the encroachments on a war footing. The chief minister has directed the clearing of all types of encroachments and the process is on,” Nath said.

Further, he said they have identified 696 encroachments — Mahadevapura (175), East Bengaluru (110), West (20) and South (126) — adding that notices have been sent to all those involved in the illegal activity.

With inputs from agencies

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