The news of Bengaluru roads getting flooded has been hitting the headlines for years. Last year, the city was in the news after heavy rain lashed the city for almost a week and left most low-lying areas and even key arterial roads inundated. Throwing life out of gear, the pre-monsoon rain this year, which lashed the city last week, has already exposed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) lack of preparedness for the monsoon.
Torrential rains and hailstorms which battered Bengaluru on May 21 claimed the life of Bhanurekha, a 23-year-old employee at Infosys, after the car she was travelling in was submerged in water in an underpass at K.R. Circle. The incident occurred a stone’s throw away from Vidhana Soudha a day after the new government led by Siddaramaiah was sworn in.
A day later, a 31-year-old man drowned in an overflowing storm-water drain in K.P. Agarahara on May 22. All these incidents came even as the Palike came under severe criticism for its failure to manage floods last year.
After the recent incidents, the civic body prepared a report on the flooding of Bengaluru roads and underpasses. The report prepared by B.S. Prahlad, Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure), BBMP, said, “In an unusual scenario, flooding at the underpass was caused by rainwater that carried leaves and branches that had fallen due to gusty winds.”
Why city roads get inundated
According to senior BBMP officials, the main reason for flooding is run-off water on the streets during a downpour. “The time taken for the run-off water to recede into drains is technically called reaction time. The reaction time is prolonged for various reasons, including the amount of run-off, the time window in which the rain lashed the particular point, and the avenues for the water to recede. All factors contributed to the longer reaction time leading to waterlogging,” an official said.
The officials added that the only solution to flooding is to create recharge wells. “We need to create water recharge wells by the streets so that we capture the rainwater, avoid flooding, and also recharge the underground water table,” officials explained.
Pumpsets to flush out water from road
Meanwhile, officials said that preparations to avoid water logging on roads due to rain are going on. “These are pre-monsoon showers. Drainworks are going on in most parts of the city in preparation for monsoon,” another BBMP official said.
According to a BBMP official, of the 209 locations identified as flood-prone areas, the civic body could only resolve storm-water drain issues in 84 places. The BBMP has now started to deploy pumpsets to flush out water, and ducts on the roads.
The situation has forced citizens to volunteer to clear the floodwater on the roads. Recently, 31-year-old Dushyant Dubey emerged as an example by clearing flood water on the roads in Indiranagar when it rained.
The solution
Meanwhile, experts say that flooding can be avoided by cleaning the inlets on the roads. M.N. Sreehari, an expert on urban infrastructure and policy, said, “Most drains in the city have been reduced to dump yards, and lakes have been encroached upon. Very importantly, the inlets on roads that have to make way for rainwater have been blocked. All this is causing flooding on roads.”
“The civic body should focus on cleaning the drains near the roads and also clear the encroachments of the roads. Apart from this, the BBMP and BWSSB must coordinate to maintain inlets on the side of the roads. These departments fail to coordinate and work together. Construction on the roads, like metro construction, will also block water passage. Hence, planning during construction is very important to avoid flooding on roads,” Mr Sreehari added.
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