Bengaluru: After facing last year’s horrors during the course of the monsoons, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) announced on May 21, their measures of preparation for the coming monsoon season. One of these measures is the closing of 3629 potholes in the next few weeks.
Bengaluru is already being lashed by pre-monsoon showers and these are only going to get more intense when the monsoon comes on in full swing. Last year, the city of Bengaluru witnessed some of the worst flooding as there was extensive damage to property and lives. The presence of many deep and dangerous potholes was one of the main issues faced by the residents of the city.
In a bid to remedy the situation, the BBMP made an attempt to fill as many potholes as possible. An app was even created for the public to report potholes.
This time, the BBMP has decided to increase the number of control rooms and rain squads to respond to the damage as quick as possible. Inlets and silt traps of 25 lakes were cleared to ensure that there was uninterrupted flow of rain water. 63 temporary sub-division control rooms will be set up and will operate from May 20 to August 31, each costing Rs 1 lakh. Each control room will have a stock of pipes, sickles and other necessary items for repairs on hand. The supervisors of these control rooms will be responsible for this and the cleanliness of shoulder and storm water drains in the areas under their purview.
The BBMP has also identified potholes, of which there are 950, on major roads maintained by their infrastructure division. They have identified potholes at the zonal level where 650 are in Mahadevapura, 580 in Yelahanka, 480 in Bommanahalli, 354 in the East Zone, 325 in the South Zone, 150 in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, 80 in Dasarahalli and 60 in the West zone.
To tackle the problem of trees being uprooted by the heavy rains, special teams of the forest department have been formed to handle emergencies for each zone. The East, West and South zones will have four teams each, two teams each will be made for Mahadevapura, RR Nagar, Bommanahalli and Yelahanka, and one team will be made for Dasarahalli
The teams have been given a time limit of three hours to clear the fallen trees in their areas. As a measure of prevention, the teams have been directed to take care of old and vulnerable trees before the onset of the monsoons. They will also be identifying vulnerable areas and taking proactive action to prevent water logging in those areas.
