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Poor drainage system and planning to be blamed for flooding in Bengaluru: Experts
Experts said that the short term planning can no longer help Bengaluru and complete rehaul in preparedness is needed to tackle changing weather patterns.
Outdated stormwater drains and lack of proper planning are some of the main reasons cited by experts why Bengaluru continues to witness flooding every year after a heavy spell of rain. On Friday as well, several areas were flooded after
80.4 mm rain lashed the city on Thursday night. In October as well, flooding had left a trail of destruction, misery, and suffering for people living in low-lying regions of the city and other places where drains and lakes have overflowed into the homes and basements, residents claim.
Experts said that the short term planning can no longer help Bengaluru and complete rehaul in preparedness is needed to tackle changing weather patterns.
Urban planner V Ravichandar said unless a change in stormwater drainage is brought about, the situation in the city is going to be difficult. “Our growth is unplanned and rampant. We have occupied several low-lying areas in the city and these areas don’t have a stormwater drain. A relook at the drainage system is much needed now,” he said.
Ashwin Mahesh, an urban planning expert, said that a fundamental change is needed in the idea of transporting rainwater through stormwater drains. According to him, the design of the city stormwater drains is wrong. “Water moves faster in a cylindrical space than rectangular space. It is scientifically proven. Except for the TenderSure roads in Bengaluru, we have rectangular drainages. Apart from transporting we should use socking pits to absorb water locally,” he said.
With similar rainfall expected for two more days, officials said that the city could witness more flooding. “The rains are predicted to continue for two more days due to the weather system in the Bay of Bengal. After Saturday, the rains are expected to reduce,” said Geeta Agnihotri, director-in-charge of IMD Bengaluru.
BBMP control room officials said that so far no tree fall incidents have been reported in the city. On Friday, at least 17 roads in Bengaluru witnessed water logging said the control room officials. According to them, teams have been deployed across all BBMP zones to clear waterlogging and remove fallen trees.
According to Indian Meteorological Department, 80.4 mm rain is much above the average rainfall for November 18, which is 2.3 mm. Bengaluru received 1,000 % more rainfall than average in seven days from November 11 to November 17, according to IMD data. The average weekly rainfall in Bengaluru during November is 10.7 mm, but in the last week, the city received 118.1 mm of rain, as per the data.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday chaired a meeting with district administration to review the situation in the state due to incessant rainfall since the last week and also took up relief measures. In a bid to address the issue of flooding, Bommai has proposed that the government will initiate a rehabilitation programme for those living in flood-affected areas in the city.
The chief minister has also ordered a survey to identify vulnerable areas and alternate land for those who will be rehabilitated, however, officials in BBMP think it is not practical. “We have to remove people from some of the prime areas of Bengaluru. Yes, these are low-lying areas with a serious problem, but removing all residents and giving compensation is not practical,” said a senior BBMP official who didn’t want to be named.
Sharada Iyer, a business consultant and resident of Koramangala, one of the low lying areas in the city said they have not heard from the officials about any rehabilitation plans. “How can the government talk about removing us. This is not a well thought out plan. The government needs to focus on improving the infrastructure, especially the stormwater drains,” she said.
On September 15, 2021, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) had pulled up the agencies for inefficiency in identifying and managing stormwater drains (SWDs) in the city. A performance audit report tabled in the legislative assembly on Wednesday mentioned lack of financial discipline, shoddy mapping of SWDs and tertiary drains, lack of documents related to various works taken up, and failure to clear lake and SWD encroachments.
“There were discrepancies between the figures exhibited in the budget estimates and actual expenditure recorded in the cash book. This indicated the lack of reconciliation mechanism and correct reporting of expenditure, and exposes the financial indiscipline reigning in BBMP,” the report said.
It also added that out of the 1,988 encroachments identified by BBMP, 1,225 were declared to be removed. However, evictions were incomplete and did not improve the condition of drains.
Bengaluru’s stormwater drain network is over 850km. While it’s supposed to channel storm water during the rains and remain empty rest of the year, the reality is different, with the drains filled with sewage and garbage, said Naresh Narasimhan, architect, and urban activist. “I’m also beginning to think there is an intellectual vacuum in the government. There are urban experts, but they are not in governance,” he said.
BBMP in response said that under K-100, storm water drains are in the process of getting a facelift as part of the ₹160-crore ‘Citizens Water Way Project’. The project, with a deadline of 10 months, has been envisaged to establish the major drain as a waterway and ecological corridor, and was taken up on the lines of the ‘Sabarmati River Waterfront’ project in Gujarat, said a statement from BBMP.
