Bommai blames previous Congress government in Karnataka for Bengaluru waterlogging

“In these challenging conditions, we are working. Secondly, this (flooding and other problems in Bengaluru) is done because of maladministration and unplanned administration of the previous Congress government. This is the result of maladministration of the government. They (Congress) have given permission right, left, and centre (for construction) in the lakes, tank bunds, and buffer zones, that is the reason for this. They never maintained this. Now we have taken it as a challenge,” Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said.

As Bengaluru continues to face severe waterlogging due to heavy downpour, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday blamed the “mal-administration” by the previous Congress regime in the state for the current situation, an allegation the Opposition has rejected.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday blamed the “mal-administration” by the previous Congress regime. (PTI)

“In these challenging conditions, we are working. Secondly, this (flooding and other problems in Bengaluru) is done because of maladministration and unplanned administration of the previous Congress government. This is the result of maladministration of the government. They (Congress) have given permission right, left, and centre (for construction) in the lakes, tank bunds, and buffer zones, that is the reason for this. They never maintained this. Now we have taken it as a challenge,” Bommai said.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has held power in the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city corporation since 2010 and the party has governed from 2008-13 and since 2019.

The statements come even as large parts of Bengaluru, especially Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and the east zone of the city experiencing waterlogging, disrupting traffic and throwing life out of gear for residents and office goers.

“I have given ₹1500 crores for all this rainwater storm drain. Yesterday I have given another ₹300 cr to remove all the encroachments and do the pakka (permanent) structure on Rajakaluve (storm water drains) so that in the future there will not impede the or any bottleneck for the flow of water,” the chief minister added.

The chief minister said the administration is working round the clock to tackle the waterlogging problem in the city. He said control rooms have been made to resolve issues.

“We have taken it as a challenge. Our officers, engineers, workers and SDRF team are working 24X7. We have cleared a lot of encroachments. And we will continue to clear them. We are putting sluice gates at the tanks so that tanks can be well managed. We have started dewatering in most of the places. We have given ₹1,500 crore for draining of water in Bengaluru while another ₹300 crore has been given to remove encroachments. We will ensure that in future there does not impede the flow of water,” he said.

Tractors, earth movers and boats have been deployed across several localities in Bengaluru to help rescue residents as well as ferry people wanting to cross roads to reach their office spaces near Outer Ring Road (ORR), the 17-km stretch between Silk Board and KR Puram, which houses some of the biggest global corporations and one of the biggest technology corridors in the city.

Hitting back at the chief minister, Congress state president D K Shivakumar on Tuesday urged Bommai and his administration to “perform or face election”.

He also alleged that the “corrupt” BJP government and its officials were responsible for Bengaluru’s current situation.

“If there were encroachments during the Congress tenure, let them (BJP) clear it, they had earlier got five years, they had now got five years, they should have done it...not performing while in power and blaming previous Congress governments instead is not right,” Shivakumar said, reacting to the chief minister’s statement.

Speaking to reporters in the city, he said such a situation had never arisen during the Congress’ tenure.

“It is because of your corruption and corruption by your officials. The chief minister has to bear this in mind. People have given you an opportunity. In case you are not able to perform, let’s go for election,” he added.

The rains in Bengaluru and other parts of the state have brought life to a standstill as homeowners rue the loss of their property and belongings.

“If we look at rainfall data from 1971, it is the second highest rainfall in September after 1998. But this is one of the wettest monsoons in the history of Bengaluru,” Tushar Girinath, the chief commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body) said on Monday, HT reported.

As Bengaluru city received 131.6 mm rainfall in a 24-hour-period ending Monday morning, experts pointed out that it showed that the cyber capital of India was ill-prepared to deal with extreme rainfall events due to poor planning or lack of it.

Picture of Bengaluru city on Monday presented water mayhem with boats being used to rescue stranded residents in the Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli zones of the city, which are among the worst hit due to heavy downpours.

In several localities in the city, tractors were used to ferry residents from their homes to safer places and JCBs were used to give food to people stranded in multi-storey housing complexes.

Drinking water supply has been hit in Bengaluru after at least two of the four pumphouses in Mandya district’s TK Halli reservoir, were inundated after heavy rains on Sunday night.

“Yesterday I visited the pumphouses in TK Halli in Mandya district which supplies water to Bengaluru. The Bheemeshwari river (water) has entered the pump house, and two pump houses have been affected. One of them is completely dewatered (drained), and by tonight, 330 MLD of water supply will start. Another 550 mld of water will start by this afternoon. It will take another two days to clear that,” Bommai said on Monday.

An alternative plan has been formulated for water supply to Bengaluru, he said. Around 8,000 bore wells under the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and 4,000 under BBMP will be activated, and they would supply water during the disruption in Cauvery water supply to areas.

Water in tankers will be supplied on behalf of the government to the areas where there are no bore wells, he added. “I request the cooperation of people for the next 2-3 days.”