Bengaluru floods: Lack of coordination between agencies blamed

BENGALURU: Many residents and trade body members have blamed the lack of coordination between different civic bodies for the flooding in Sultanpet, Mamulpet, BVK Iyengar Road and Avenue Road in Central Business District (CBD). The BBMP, Bescom, BWSSB and the police department have particularly been at the receiving end for their failure in addressing the issue.

A resident, who did not wish to be named, said the areas which fall between three assembly segments like Chikpete, Chamarajpete and Gandhinagar also lack political will and as a result officials duck their demands and questions on basic infrastructure and problems which occur during rain. Going a little further, Vimal K, one of the directors of Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce said, “If it rains for one hour, it leads to flooding in most areas in the old CBD area. The hawkers here dump waste and plastic and as a result the drains get choked.

The police should act and evict the hawkers”. He added, “The route from City Market to Avenue Road normally takes three minutes, but due to the increasing number of hawkers and encroachment, it now takes more than 30 minutes to cross this stretch. The police has to do its duty. There is no direct contact with MLAs here. We expect to see better coordination between all civic agencies.” Revanna, Assistant Executive Engineer, Cottonpet Sub- Division, told The New Indian Express that BWSSB pipes, chambers and also storm water drains get choked due to dumping of plastic and other waste. Items like plantain stems used during festivals are also dumped and when it rains, the areas get flooded.

The engineer said that the roads also get blocked due to lorries and trucks parked along the stretch between BVK Iyengar Road and Akkipete. “Local MLA Dinesh Gundu Rao has initiated development works worth Rs 6.5 crore which include laying concrete roads, fixing drains and footpaths and once this is done, the situation will hopefully improve,” said Revanna.