Karnataka: CM Bommai blames erstwhile Congress-led govt for flood situation in Bengaluru

Bommai also accused the erstwhile Congress-led government of maladministration, blaming it for the poor drainage system in the city. “They gave permission for construction on the lakes, storm water drains and their buffer zones,” he said.

Talking about the resumption of water supply from TK Halli where two pumping stations were flooded, Bommai said: “Yesterday, I visited the pump house in TK Halli in Mandya district which supplies water to Bengaluru. Water from Bhimeshwara river has entered the two pumping stations. The dewatering of the stations is underway. Meanwhile, we will provide water to the affected areas in Bengaluru through tankers and borewells. In another two-three days, the situation will be normalised.”

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) chief commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said, “This is the second wettest rainy season seen by Bengaluru in the last 50 years. The torrential rains from August 30 to September 4 had been five times the normal rainfall. The situation was brought under control quickly and the flooding is now localised between two lakes – Bellandur and Varthur… only 5-6 square kilometres have witnessed flooding. Out of the eight zones in the city, only Mahadevpura zone is severely affected.”

Nath informed that the civic body has deployed 20 boats to evacuate stranded residents. The BBMP Tuesday also started desilting drains near Bannerghatta slum that witnessed heavy flooding.

The government, however, has come under fire from a section of civil society for its handling of the flood situation in Bengaluru.

On Monday, UpGrad CEO Arjun Mohan had posted a video on LinkedIn along with a message stating: “State of Bangalore after yesterday’s rains. Entire area around Bellandur and Outer Ring Road is submerged and apartments are without power or water. I had to walk 7 km, take a tractor to cross waist deep water and hitch rides from passing bikers to reach office. Quite an adventurous day and looks like Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Karnataka govt has decided to do everything to keep us healthy with all the walking…”

Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), which represents firms and banks located on Outer Ring Road, issued an advisory Monday asking employees to work from home for the next five days in view of the flooding.

Unacademy CEO Gaurav Munjal shared a video on Twitter and wrote: “Family and my pet Albus have been evacuated on a tractor that is now submerged. Things are bad. Please take care. DM if you need any help. I’ll try my best to help,” he tweeted.

Family and my Pet Albus has been evacuated on a Tractor from our society that’s now submerged. Things are bad. Please take care. DM me if you need any help, I’ll try my best to help. pic.twitter.com/MYnGgyvfx0

— Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) September 6, 2022

Conservationist Joseph Hoover has asked people to write to the chief minister and the Union environment ministry expressing their concerns about flooding in parts of the city. He suggested that the ecosystem has to be protected to avert extreme climate events.

“Justifiably there has been a lot of discussion about overflowing lakes, encroachment of lakes and rajakaluves (storm water drains), choked storm water drains, flooding, traffic snarls and inconvenience to people. If the discussions were also to be about why there has been excessive rains, floods, landslides, extreme heat and drought, we could drive common sense into the pea-brained heads of our policymakers. By now people should know that these extreme weather events are manifestations of Climate Crisis. If we don’t demand our politicians and bureaucrats to stop destroying our fragile ecosystem, extreme climate events will continue to dominate our future,” he said.