Urban News

The Deccan Herald  27.09.2010

BBMP sets up teams to meet rain rage

Bangalore, September 26, DHNS:

As happens always after a rain disaster, civic agencies woke up yet again from their slumber after Friday's deluge exposed the City's frailty against monsoon fury, and scampered to draft action plans.

After the initial jolt, Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) decided to put their entire engineering staff on standby for the next one week to avoid any delay in taking remedial action in case of heavy downpour. It is stated that the Palike has as many as 60 emergency teams formed and ready for call on Sunday.

The special teams, to be deployed across the eight zones are being equipped with a lorry and few gangmen each to clear any debris on account of rain. The teams are with chainsaws and pumps to flush out water. Twelve teams are on the prowl in the South zone with 10 each in the East and West zones of the Palike.

The areas newly added to BBMP have as many as five teams each to overlook any problems related to rain.

Overflowing manholes and uneven stormwater drains seem to be the main cause for waterlogging in the City. Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) received more than 40 calls at their call centre lines for overflowing manholes on Friday.

T Venkataraju, Chief Engineer (Maintenance) said nearly all the complaints have been attended to and repair work is going on at few places. 

"Manholes are not meant for rain water and they do not have the capacity to retain so much water. It is evident that when more water enters the manholes, they will overflow. In many places, storm water drains are non-existent and residents let the rain water directly into the manholes. We are advising them not to do so, but this is still in practice," he said.

The only solution is to have a separate storm water drain to handle rain water.Even if the diameter of the manholes are increased, it will be helpful during the rainy season. During summer, however, water may not flow smoothly, if the diameter of the manhole is large, he added. 

At present, the City had sewerage pipelines stretching up to 243 km across the City, that lead to different treatment plants. For a stretch of nearly 80 km, the sewage pipelines lie directly under storm water drains in the City.

There are many manholes in the stretch which are connected to each other, so when it rains heavily manhole overflowing becomes evident.

Illegal encroachments on the stretch of the main SWD has not allowed the water to flow smoothly with full capacity as it is clogging the flow causing flooding and waterlogging.

The Pioneer  27.09.2010

PNS | Dehradun

The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun has given residents of unauthorised settlements in some areas one week’s time to vacate their dwellings. If the residents fail to vacate the area, the MCD will demolish the encroachments after one week.

According to information received from official sources, additional Mukhya Nagar Adhikari (AMNA) Harak Singh Rawat visited various locations in the Rajpur Road and Sahastradhara Road areas where MCD land is being encroached by people living in unauthorised settlements.

It is pertinent to mention that the waterlogging caused by heavy rains in Dehradun during the past two months had placed residents of unauthorised settlements, especially along the banks of the Rispana, Bindaal and small nullahs, at risk from landslide and other natural calamities.

However, the MCD and other authorities concerned were occupied with other works during the peak rainy season due to which little attention was paid to those encroaching on MCD land unless they were facing danger due to the heavy rainfall and resulting disasters.

During the weekend, AMNA Harak Singh Rawat along with MCD officials inspected areas along Rajpur Road and Sahastradhara Road to gauge the level of encroachment in these areas.

The AMNA found substantial number of families living in unauthorised settlements in the Bhramawala Khala area along Sahastradhara Road and in sites including the area behind Scholar’s Home school, Barighat area and Kandoli along the Rajpur Road.

The MCD has warned the residents of unauthorised settlements in these locations to vacate the area within a week, and if they fail to vacate the sites the MCD will take action to clear the area of encroachments.

It is pertinent to note that a substantial proportion of land owned by MCD is presently under encroachment by unauthorised structures utilised for both commercial and residential purposes.

The MCD has continued to undertake periodic campaigns to remove such encroachments with limited effect as the sites cleared of encroachments are covered by the same a short time after being cleared.

It remains to be seen whether the MCD is able to clear encroachments after the end of the one-week period accorded to residents of unauthorised settlements to vacate the site.