With the onset of monsoon, Mysuru’s rain preparedness seems to have
been stepped up with the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) cleaning up
stormwater drains across the city on a war-footing.

As silt in drains is the main cause for floods, officials are busy with removing silt from 70-km long stormwater drains.

The
ongoing work here gains significance as clogged drains in Mangaluru
were said to be behind the rain damage in the coastal city.

Already,
pre-monsoon showers and rain, owing to low pressure in the Arabian Sea,
have been lashing the city for the past many days.

MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadish told
The Hindu
that the work is under way in areas in low-lying areas.

Among nine
zones in the MCC limits, storm water drains run across all zones
barring Zone 5. The longest running drain is located in Zone 9 which has
a length of 20.9 km.

He said the Superintendent Engineer, MCC is
supervising the works which are coordinated by the respective heads of
the Zones. “I have inspected the works which are being undertaken
simultaneously, and they are in various stages of completion. Before the
monsoon gets active, the work will be done,” he replied.

Silt is
also being removed from manholes as there are possibilities of storm
water entering the UGD lines. Blocked UGD lines, if any, are also
getting cleared using machines.

“Since the dredging work has been
taken up on a priority basis, we are completing 60 percent work with
extra men and machinery employed to complete the job before the monsoon
peaks in,” the Commissioner said.

The Commissioner also said that weak and dried tree branches are being trimmed to prevent them from falling on electrical lines.

“We
are also awaiting permission from the Forest Department for uprooting
dead trees which pose threat to public safety. On getting the nod, such
trees would be cleared.”

Mr. Jagadish said that three ‘abhaya’
(rapid response) teams will be working round-the-clock, in different
shifts, to attend to rain-related emergencies.

In case of trees uprooting in the night, the team will make arrangements for clearing the traffic.

Two
teams will remain as stand-by for attending to complaints of UGD in the
event of heavy rains and to clear blockages in the drains, he added.