Is Bengaluru civic body equipped to handle crises? asks corporator

Bengaluru: Jayamahal ward corporator M.K. Gunashekar demanded to know if the BBMP is equipped to tackle natural disasters like the recent flooding in the city after heavy rains. During a subject meeting at the BBMP Council on Monday, he asked what were the measures the BBMP had taken before the arrival of monsoon and if the officials were trained to solve the crisis.

“In how many wards have BBMP officials taken up intensive cleaning drives and de-silting? Were the vents in storm water drains cleaned? Not just the corporators, even the mayor is not trained to deal with disaster management. We don’t have executive and financial powers. What are the BBMP officials doing,” he asked.
He criticised the Town Planning Department for giving permission to construct new buildings in low-lying areas and slammed the junior officials for not responding to corporators’ complaints.

He said, “The city has incurred a loss of Rs 80 crore due to the damage caused in the rain. The state government has announced Rs 50 crore funds for relief. But is there any allocation in the budget? There is some provision for Rs 50 lakh for natural disasters. How will the BBMP give compensation?” Other corporators, barring all political affiliations, joined Mr Gunashekar and demanded answers from BBMP officials.

Mr Gunashekar took a dig at the BBMP for not setting up a Disaster Management Force to deal with natural disasters. BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan said, “National disaster management authorities function at national, state and district level. The district level authority does not involve higher rank officials in its meeting. I will write to the state government seeking permission to reconstitute the authority with district-in-charge minister or the mayor as a core member.”