Bengaluru buckles up for monsoon

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to set up a task force with dedicated teams in each assembly constituency in the city to handle monsoon-related issues, officials aware of the development said

Bengaluru: The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has decided to set up a task force with dedicated teams in each assembly constituency in the city to handle monsoon-related issues, officials aware of the development said.

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Karnataka revenue minister R Ashoka on Thursday said a decision has been taken to provide adequate equipment to the task force to handle any flooding-like situations in the city.

“We have directed the BBMP to use high-pressure motors to drain underpasses. A task force will be set up in every assembly constituency to exclusively oversee the monsoon preparations and attend to distress calls from citizens. The task force will be provided with required vehicles, personnel and equipment to deal with rain-related emergencies. A 24X7 control room will be set up in every BBMP zone to attend to people’s problems,” the minister said.

The decision was taken after a meeting called by chief minister BS Yediyuarappa with senior officials of the city administration just two days before the southwest monsoon is expected to hit Karnataka. During the meeting, the CM also instructed officials to set up eight permanent control rooms, one in each zone, and 63 temporary control rooms, which must be operational 24 hours, said officials who were part of the meeting.

As per the report of the review meeting, which was presented to the CM, as many as 209 flood-prone areas have been identified across the city, of which 58 have been placed in severely vulnerable category while 151 were deemed moderately vulnerable. They also informed the CM that the redevelopment of 440 km of stormwater drain walls has been completed and added that other monsoon preparatory works will be completed by the end of June.

As per the documents presented to the chief minister, Bommanhalli area in Bengaluru has the highest number (12) of flood-prone areas followed by Mahadevapura (10).

On Thursday, Sai Layout, Geddalahalli and a few other areas near Hennur Main Road got flooded with just 80-90 mm of rainfall in the city. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon will enter interior Karnataka and Bengaluru by Sunday.

CS Patil, director in-charge of IMD-Bengaluru, said the interior parts of Karnataka will receive rain for the next three days.

While the preparation for the monsoon is underway in full swing, BBMP officials are faced with the additional challenge of handling Covid-19 situation. As the number of Covid-19 cases are still on the higher side, officials have been asked to prepare for any contingencies, where people have to be evacuated in case of serious flooding.

“We are preparing for the same. In several parts of Bengaluru, people have to evacuate their houses for a short time because of the flooding. They generally move with someone they know or a relative. Even though it is a worst-case scenario and is very few in numbers, we are making a plan on relocating people, if needed,” said a senior BBMP official, who didn’t wish to be named.

Meanwhile, considering the higher number of power cuts in the city, Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has decided to allocate more staff for its helpline (1912) number, which was converted to Covid-19 helpline when the cases were on the rise. “We had around 60 personnel working for the Covid-19 helpline and 30 working for BESCOM helpline, with the reduction in calls, we might move some employees back to BESCOM since there are multiple power fluctuations due to rains,” said a helpline official.