As
parts of the city drown during the rain, the much-touted Rs. 800-crore
work on reinforcing stormwater drains, which was expected to be
completed before this monsoon, will now be completed by December.
Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Sunday attributed the
delay to the time taken to get all approvals under ‘due process’.

RCC drains

The
Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had tendered 408 works to
construct reinforced cement concrete (RCC) drains of 192 km at a cost of
Rs. 800 crore after the July 2016 floods. On Sunday, BBMP officials
admitted that work started as late as May.

Mr. George announced
that an additional Rs. 300 crore proposal would be placed before the
Cabinet on Monday. Once these works are completed, citizens would not
have to worry about the aftermath of rains.

Currently, tenders for 70 works for flood damage correction have been approved under the Chief Minister’s grant.

This includes for repair and construction of drains in areas, which suffered the brunt of rains this year, he said.

On August 5, a review by Mr. George revealed that only 54.66% of the works had begun and just 5.3% had been completed.

Robot excavators

The
BBMP has submitted a Rs. 2 crore proposal to get robot multi-purpose
excavators for dredging and cleaning of drains. “With the use of such
machines, we will be able to complete dredging in vast stretches
quickly,” said Mr. Prasad.