INDIA. Karnataka: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai today blamed the previous Congress government’s flood on “malpractice” and unprecedented rains in Bengaluru.
He said that against all odds, his government took it as a challenge to restore the rain-ravaged city and ensure that such things do not happen again in the future.
Due to the torrential downpour that has lashed the state capital for the past few days, several areas are still underwater with houses and vehicles partially submerged, affecting normal life.
“Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, has not seen unprecedented heavy rain. such rain has not been recorded in the last 90 years. All the reservoirs are full and overflowing, some have burst and it is raining continuously, it is raining every day,” Bommai said.
Speaking to reporters here, he said that a picture is being portrayed that the entire city is facing difficulties, which is not the case.
“Basically the problem lies in two zones, especially in the Mahadevapura zone for reasons such as the presence of 69 reservoirs in this small area and almost all of them have either burst or are overflowing, secondly, all the businesses are in low-lying areas, and the third is interventions,” he listed.
Stating that his government has taken it as a “challenge”, the chief minister said officers, engineers and workers and teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are working 24/7.
“We have cleared a lot of encroachments and will continue to clear them. We are installing sluice gates to the reservoirs so that they can be managed better. I have tasked officials to ensure that the control room is operational 24/7. We have started de-irrigation in most areas.“
“Except for one or two areas, almost all areas have been drained,” he said. Adding that the rain is not giving respite to work as it rains every day. They never thought about lake maintenance.
“Now I have taken it as a challenge. I have given ₹ 1,500 crores to build storm water drains, yesterday I released ₹ 300 crores to remove all encroachments and build pucca along the stormwater drains and infrastructure so that there are no obstructions and obstructions in the flowing water,” he said.
On finding that the TK Halli pumping station in Malavalli taluk of Mandya, which pumps water from the Cauvery to Bengaluru, is affected by the overflowing Bheemeshwara river and water from nearby lakes, the Chief Minister said that two pumping stations have been affected, the flood water is being drained out, but it will take two days to drain the water and resume work at full capacity.
An alternative plan has been formulated for water supply to Bengaluru, he said. About 8,000 bore wells under the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and 4,000 under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be activated and will supply water during the water supply interruption to the Cauvery areas.
Tanker water will be supplied on behalf of the government to areas where there are no bore wells, he added. “I’m asking for people’s cooperation for the next 2-3 days.”
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