Rain havoc: Bengaluru slowly returning to normalcy

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Bengaluru: Tractors being used to evacuate people stranded at the waterlogged Yemalur area after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Bengaluru: Parts of Bengaluru that were battered by torrential rains for the last couple of days appeared to be slowly returning to normalcy with floodwaters, by and large, receding in some areas.

According to official sources, most parts of the waterlogged roads have been cleared, while work is on for removing water in some of the worst hit areas that were inundated, amid some respite from rains.

Traffic is almost returning to near-usual levels, and things may get back to normal very soon, they hoped.

Bengaluru traffic police have issued an advisory regarding waterlogging near 'Eco Space' on the Outer Ring Road among other areas.

Bengaluru: Migrants carrying their belongings shift from a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
Bengaluru: Migrants carrying their belongings shift from a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Also, the city's Cauvery water supply is said to have resumed to a large extent, after the supply was hit in some areas because of flooding at a pumping station in T K Halli, officials said.

Meanwhile, Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) are meeting Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday to assess the extent of damage suffered in the state due to floods in the months of July and August.

Bengaluru: Residents use barricade to enter and exit from their building in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
Bengaluru: Residents use barricade to enter and exit from their building in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

Set up residents' grievance cell: HC tells BBMP

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to immediately set up cells to address the grievances of citizens affected by the heavy rains and flood situation in several areas here.

The direction mandates the setting up of a cell in each ward of Bengaluru.

Each cell will have an engineer who will attend to the grievance of the public. "The ward engineer in each ward shall be notified to deal with the grievance of residents," the court said.

The court also directed the BBMP to notify the establishment of a team of engineers for each ward who would hear the grievances of the residents and manage the "systematic water flow".

It also directed the civic agency to expedite such a proposal and obtain the state government's approval at the earliest.

Bengaluru: A boy pushes a table in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)
Bengaluru: A boy pushes a table in a flooded locality of Bellandur after heavy monsoon rains, in Bengaluru, Wednesday, Sep. 7, 2022. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)

The division bench of the court headed by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe was hearing public interest litigation about the alleged "poor management" of roads by the BBMP.

High corruption, bad governance: Mohandas Pai

Information technology industry veteran T V Mohandas Pai has said the havoc caused in Bengaluru due to heavy rains was a result of multiple factors, including bad governance, high corruption and lack of urban reforms.

Both political leaders and bureaucrats have failed the citizens, the former Chief Financial Officer of IT major Infosys Ltd said on the floods in parts of Bengaluru following two days of torrential rains.

"...result of ineffective government, bad governance and high corruption. Money is allocated and largely shoddy work due to high corruption, lack of capability in the corporation, illegal construction, the list goes on," Pai told PTI.

It also shows a lack of urban reforms across all our cities over the last 30 years, he added.

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