BBMP starts demolition drive in Mahadevapura

Civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Monday started a demolition drive within days of the havoc caused by rains-triggered floods in the city

Civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Monday started a demolition drive within days of the havoc caused by rains-triggered floods in the city. According to the BBMP officials, at least 15 places in Mahadevapura zone have been identified, which were choking flow of the rainwater. These structures include a building, a playground and a garden of a prominent private school among others which have encroached the stormwater drain area.

According to the BBMP officials, at least 15 places in Mahadevapura zone have been identified, which were choking flow of the rainwater. (HT Photo)

A playground that was constructed over a stormwater drain on the Gopalan College campus in Basavanagara was razed during the drive on Monday, a person in the know of the developments said. In addition, several homes and shops in Munnekolala were demolished, and around 25-30 more buildings have been marked for the same, said the person citied above. The authorities issued notices on Monday to the respective area residents to vacate their homes.

Bengaluru had recorded about 131.6mm rain in a 24-hour-period ending September 5, the second highest single-day rainfall in September in 34 years. According to the India Meteorological Department data, Bengaluru recorded its highest rainfall for the month on September 12, 1988, at 177.6 mm of rain.After this, the city on September 26, 2014, recorded 132.6mm of rain.

Meanwhile, addressing the media, BBMP chief engineer Basavaraj stated that a stretch of about 20 buildings extending from Munnekolala to Spice Garden has been marked for demolition. He said, “According to protocols, the demolition of smaller structures can be carried out without issuing notices.”

The BBMP has identified more than 700 encroachments in Bengaluru so far.

“The next challenge before the authorities is to raze an elite apartment right next to a school,” an official said. “Notices have been served to the dwellers of the apartment to vacate it. We are waiting for their response,” another BBMP official said.

Executive engineer Muni Reddy stated that in AECS Layout, eight buildings have been demolished to connect a stormwater drain to Varthuru. Further, 15 residents of the Luxury Rainbow Drive gated community, which was flooded after the heavy rains recently, have also reportedly been issued notices by the Bengaluru East tehsildar for alleged encroachment over a stormwater drain. The owners have been asked to vacate the encroachments by themselves and warned that if they do not do so, the BBMP would do it and the owners will have to bear the expenses.

“There will be no partisanship in the drive to remove the alleged encroachment of the stormwater drains that were said to be majorly responsible for the floods in Bengaluru recently following a heavy downpour,” Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said while reacting to the demolition drive.

“I have given a clear direction to the officials to remove the encroachment, whoever has built structures on the stormwater drains and interrupted the flow of rainwater. This I have made clear from Day 1,” he told reporters.

When asked if big companies were found to be encroaching the stormwater drains, Bommai said: “Whoever they are, we will not spare them. Everybody suffered during floods, be it IT-BT people or the common people.”

Bommai added there is no question of any disparity in the removal of encroachments.

Replying to a question, the chief minister said that the government has sought directions from courts in many cases. “The courts will be apprised of the situation. Several directions have been issued by courts in connection with flood-related cases in the past. This time, the encroachments will be removed on a big scale,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association (ORRCA) said they started their offices on Monday as usual as there was no waterlogging on the roads or in the offices.

ORRCA general manager Krishna Kumar Gowda said they were also waiting for a response from the government on the comprehensive proposal that they submitted on September 7 to improve the infrastructure on ORR and arterial roads in the short, medium, and long term.

On the day of flooding in Bengaluru, the ORRCA had claimed that the IT and banking companies incurred a loss of about ₹ 225 crore on a single day as the employees were stuck on roads and were not able to operate either from home or from office.

BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath said that directions have been given to authorities to clear 600 structures which have encroached on the stormwater drains in Bengaluru. “The operation has been intensified in the Mahadevapura zone which houses major IT and BT companies and was the worst affected during the recent heavy rains,” he said.

(With inputs from PTI)