On Monday, Brand Guru Harish Bijoor tweeted a photograph of a clogged drain in Bengaluru. The under-the-pavement drain, which is clogged with silt, happens to be in the heart of the city, on Infantry Road. It's not surprising, then, that a single spell of rain is enough to turn our roads into rivulets.
Bengaluru has a storm water drain of 842 kilometres, which includes primary and secondary, all of which are in desperate need of de-silting. The BBMP claims to have cleaned 192 km of the drain network, according to a submission made by the SWD department to the High Court. However, as this accounts for less than a quarter of the total drain network, citizens feel that a lot more needs to be done.
"The arteries of underground street drainage should be clogged. Under-the-pavement drains on Infantry Road are filled with silt," says Harish. He demands that in addition to the rainwater harvesting, a plan needs to be drawn up for drain-water harvesting too. "Every street has a drain. We need to unclog these arteries a nd allow drain water to run into stormwater drains," he says.
At the spots where the BBMP does attempt to clean the drains, citizens have another problem with which to contend. Mounds of unhygienic clay on the roads and footpaths. "Whenever it rains, the silt which they have removed simply flows back into the drains, defeating the purpose of their efforts," says Ganapathi, who lives in Vinayak Nagar in Shanthi Nagar. "The silt that had been removed from the side drains that connect Wilson Garden with Shanthi Nagar was lying untouched for weeks," he says.
The widespread encroachment of storm water drains has also led to flooding in the city. "The problem coul dhave been averted in areas like Koramangala, Shanthi Nagar, J.C. Road, K.R. Puram and the like, if the BBMP was able to stand up and clear encroachments," says Krishna Kumar, a resident of Byappanahalli. He adds, "In 2016, the BBMP boasted that it would clear all the encroachments. Why haven't we seen a single storm water drain being recovered?"
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Citizens are not satisfied with the de-silting of side drains and SWD...
Our SWD department is doing its best to desilt SWDs. As of July, we have desilted nearly 195 km of the storm water drain network. It is an ongoing process and we are doing it every day at different places simultaneously in the city.
There are also complaints that silt is cleared and left on the roads and pavements. When it rains, the silt returns to the drains...
I am aware of this complaint. We have instructed the concerned to take clear the silt immediately after it is removed. Further, we have handed over the contract of maintaining the drains to a firm for Rs 38 crores. They have to ensure that the rains are desilted regularly with their men and earthmovers.
Apart from the silt, people also throw waste into drains, whether it is garbage in plastic bags, old furniture or concrete debris. What steps are being taken to tackle and prevent this?
Yes. At many places we have this issue of people dumping unwanted things into the SWDs. This will be checked soon. Once the marshals are appointed, they will be slapping fines and this attitude of people will gradually change.
