Karnataka - Bangalore   

Rain: BMP engineers face action

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, JUNE 2. Two days after a boy was washed away in a drain in Jeevanbimanagar, the Mayor, P.R. Ramesh, has said he has directed the Commissioner of Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP), M.R. Sreenivasa Murthy, to initiate action against the jurisdictional engineers for not covering the 2.5-metre deep open drain in the area.

"It is total negligence by the engineers in the east zone. Though I had written to the Commissioner on April 2 and May 4 to ensure that all open drains were cleaned and covered before the start of the monsoon, no action has been taken," he said.

The Mayor told presspersons here on Wednesday that Rs. 1.6 crore had been released to take up rain relief measures. "Each of the 30 Executive Engineers (EE) have been authorised to take up work that will cost over Rs. 8 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh in their jurisdiction. This apart, the three zonal deputy commissioners have been permitted to take up work worth over Rs. 20 lakh in their zones," he said.

He said the rain-relief measures should be executed in coordination with the area corporators and citizens. All the 30 EEs would be given vehicles to transport men and material to rain-affected areas and supervise relief work. The vehicles would be hired for three months, the Mayor said.

"The 24-hour mobile municipal service `Prahari' will be intensified and the number of emergency patrol vehicles will be increased from six to 12. All open drains along main roads with a width of 0.6 metre and depth of 0.75 metre and above will be covered with precast cement slabs without any pillars," he said. "The BMP is ready to face any emergency now. Messages on flooding and overflowing drains will be flashed through the electronic media, FM radio, and mobiles too. This will help citizens to avoid using particular roads," he said.

Asserting that he had inspected the rain-affected areas along with the Commissioner on Monday and Tuesday, the Mayor said that layouts that had come up on tank-beds and beside drains were the worst affected.

"Most of the lakes have been encroached upon by land sharks and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) to develop layouts. Improper planning and mushrooming of unauthorised layouts are the main cause of flooding. All the drains will be remodelled in the next three years and I hope there will be no rain damages then," the Mayor added.

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