Maintaining that nature alone is not responsible for the woes of Bengaluru city, which witnessed flooding of several areas due to heavy rains recently, Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah on Tuesday alleged that irresponsibility and inaction of the government and corruption in BBMP too were equally responsible for the flood.
“Do not try to escape from your responsibility by merely blaming heavy rains for the problems of people. Your inaction and irresponsibility too has a role in it,” Mr. Siddaramaiah told the government while participating in a debate in the Legislative Assembly on problems caused by heavy rains in the State.
Pointing out that 1,953 major encroachments of rajakaluves (storm-water drains) in Bengaluru had been identified when he was the Chief Minister, Mr. Siddaramaiah said 1,300 of them had been cleared by the earlier dispensation. “However, 653 cases of encroachment on rajakaluves are yet to be cleared. If the present government had cleared these encroachments, Bengaluru city would not have witnessed such a major crisis,” the former Chief Minister argued.
Brand Bengaluru
He urged the government to take up the issue seriously and completely clear the rajakaluves of any encroachments. He warned that Brand Bengaluru will take a beating if the government fails to focus on clearing of encroachments on priority. Pointing out that already some of the IT/BT leaders had written to the government expressing their displeasure and concern over infrastructure woes, Mr. Siddaramaiah urged the government to understand the seriousness of the issue as there was a possibility of them moving out to other States.
Taking the government to task for not focusing on encroachment drive before the rains, he wondered how could the government provide licence for taking up illegal construction of buildings on rajakaluves.
