News Brief
Hundreds Of Homes Inundated As Lake Bund Tampering Leaves Portions Of Bengaluru Flooded
- Over 1,000 families in Bengaluru have been affected by the flood in Hulimavu.
- BBMP and BDA — two civic agencies responsible for the city’s development — are blaming each other for the mess citing ‘non-ownership of lake’.
An area in Bengaluru flooded by the bund breach at Hulimavu lake(@amaljohn123/twitter)
Residents of Hulimavu and BTM in Bengaluru were in for a rude shock as unexpectedly, streams of water began to flow into their homes, that too on a sunny Sunday noon.
The Hulimavu lake — sprawling over 100 acres — saw a breach in its bund that had its water gushing out onto the streets, inundating hundreds of houses in the area. Around 1,000 families are said to have been affected by the floods.
Several cars and two-wheelers too were swept away by the flash-floods. While on the one hand, the Quick Response Team (QRT) of the Karnataka Civil Defence Corps started rescue operations and saved around 200 people, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) too was asked to join the evacuation operations.
The floods are said to have caused by a hole in the bund wall that was dug by an earth-mover as part of civic work that none of the civic authorities are taking responsibility for. Although, BBMP Commissioner BH Anil Kumar, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao, and Mayor M Goutham Kumar rushed to the spot, according to reports, both the BBMP and the BDA have yet again washed their hands off the maintenance of the lake.
As reported, the BBMP says the lake, which is spread over 132 acres, is still under the control of the BDA, the latter says it has been over seven to eight years since the lake was handed over to the BBMP.
While the number of people evacuated is reported as 193, the water is said to have flooded 100-120 houses in Krishna Layout, 100 houses in downstream Avani Sringeri Layout and 150 in Royal Residency. No loss of life has, however, been reported.
The flow of water was arrested by NDRF personnel who plugged the breach with 300 truckloads of mud.
As per latest reports, BBMP has set up separate mobile toilets for men and women at the shelters where flood affected families have been shifted, and cleaning and fogging operations have been undertaken in the affected areas.
As tweeted by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) Commissioner B H Anil Kumar, the families that have been affected by the breach will be immediately provided Rs 10,000 as compensation and that it would coordinate with the concerned departments and help provide duplicate documents to those who lost them in the floods.
As quoted by the Indian Express, Mayor Goutham Kumar said some people were allegedly trying to lay a pipe when the lake-bund was damaged, reportedly due to the carelessness of a JCB driver.
This is the second such incident in recent times. Just two weeks ago, a 59-acre lake in Hosakerehalli had breached due to the careless of a contractor working in the area, leading to floods in nearby areas.
When they are not frothing to the brim and setting themselves on fire, lakes in Bengaluru breach bunds and flood the city.
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