Following widespread flooding and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s directions, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) started clearing properties, which have encroached rajakaluves (storm-water drains) in the city. On Saturday, constructions were razed in Dodda Bommasandra as well as Varthur.
While the compound walls of three residential buildings were torn down in Dodda Bommasandra in Yelahanka zone, walls of TZed Homes in Varthur and some other structures, which had extended into the SWD in the Mahadevapura zone, were also demolished.
On Friday, civic authorities demolished a pathway as well as a wall at a tech park on Outer Ring Road, for blocking the SWD which was connected to the Bellandur lake.
They have also constructed a temporary parallel drain, which is about 300 metres on the service road at the same place, to ensure that there would be no flooding in case of heavy rains. The drain has been linked to a culvert to remove water
“Encroachments have to be removed immediately as they have reduced the width of our rajakaluves. We are also doing some lining and cleaning work due to which rainwater flows quickly now. In zones like Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli, previous authorities had given licences to build, but now the drains at those places are affected. Hence, we are concentrating more on clearing encroachments in Dasarahalli, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Yeshwanthpur, K.R. Puram, and Mahadevapura,” said BBMP Chief Civic Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath.
He also said that there are over 500 encroachments, which are yet to be cleared out of which 160 are in the buffer zone. “In the Central Business District, there are some poor people in the buffer zone of the rajakaluve. We are looking for alternative land to relocate them, which might take a little time, but bigger buildings, which pose bigger problems, should be addressed first,” he said.
In Yelahanka zone, the officials have devised a stage-by-stage demolition plan of encroachments, while in Mahadevapura, Shantiniketan Layout, parts of DNA apartment, and a few other places have been marked for clearance.
The citizens, on the other hand, believe that clearing the encroachment of a few properties will not do much good as there are several underlying problems.
“In Mahadevapura constituency, there are hundreds of such encroachments and many more in the entire city. A major operation is necessary to get rid of all of them. At some places where we went to clear encroachments, it was evident that there was a nexus between the encroachers and officers of the SWD Department and politicians. All the officers and politicians should get out of this and take direct action. If this trend continues, due to weather extremes, we will face huge problems in the coming days,” said Jagadish Reddy of Varthur Rising.
ORRCA threatens to seek alternative destinations if no improvement in situation
The Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association (ORRCA), which is a representation of several IT and banking companies along the stretch from Silk Board junction to K.R. Puram corridor, has written to the Chief Minister that infrastructure issues in the city should be addressed soon with short/mid-term and long-term sustainable solutions.
The memorandum said: “Flooding on ORR on August 30 has led to a loss of ₹225 crore as staff were stuck on the road for more than 5 hours”. It further said: “ORR IT generates revenue of $22 billion per annum (32% of Bengaluru’s revenue) and is the highest tax contributor, however the lack of focus on development of the infrastructure in this corridor is appalling”.
ORRCA has said that without improvements, they will seek alternative destinations for their companies.
