Drain, Drain just won't go away

 BENGALURU: The city's civic authority is beginning to find what it is like to fall two steps behind for each one it takes. As BruhatBengaluruMahanagaraPalike's (BBMP) efforts to remove hundreds of encroachments on the city's storm water drains (SWDs) crawl at a snail's pace, fresh ones are mushrooming all over.
The Karnataka High Court in 2011 passed an order directing BBMP to remove all encroachments on SWDs, on a petition filed by S. Umesh, president of Five-Year Law Course Advocates Association.

BBMP , in a status report filed before the high court in August last year, said it had identified 630 encroachments and removed 479 in the city's East, West, South, Bommanahalli, RR Nagar, Yelahanka, Mahadevapura and Dasarahalli zones. It said 151 identified encroachments were yet to be removed. The BBMP has not submitted a work execution report in the past six months.

“We have identified 405 km of encroachments on the 856 km of Raja Kaluve (storm water drains) in the city. We are demolishing old constructions on SWDs, but new constructions are coming up on the outskirts, making it difficult to control,“ said H C Ananthaswamy, Chief Engineer, SWD, in the BBMP . In Ranka Colony on Bannerghatta Main Road, an entire road has been constructed on the storm water drain there to provide an entry to apartments on the other side of it.The drain connects to Madiwala lake, but the constructions hamper the flow of water. Blocked drains like these result in the city flooding even after minor rains.

“We are taking the drive (to remove the encroachments) phase by phase following the HC order. First, we issue notices to encroachers stating that they have built illegally on the SWD, but many approach the court challenging the notice and this causes delay,“ Ananthaswamy said.Petitioner Umesh said he plans to file a contempt of court petition against BBMP officials for the delay in removing the encroachments. “They should act on builders before any construction and not after that.They give the sanction plan... BBMP officials are hand in glove with the builders and are letting them construct on SWDs,“ he said.

Umesh said that according to the rules, storm water drains should be open and fenced on both sides.