Is your neighbourhood at risk of flooding this monsoon?

BBMP has released a list of 211 localities in Bengaluru that are vulnerable to flooding this monsoon. Is yours among them? How can you seek help in case of a monsoon emergency?

While providing much-needed relief from the heat, the monsoon also cripples Bengaluru with a whole lot of problems every year. Top among them are flooding of roads and clogging of stormwater drains.

On June 1, the state government published a list of eight teams – one for each of the eight BBMP zones – to prepare for and respond to this year’s monsoon. The teams have members from six departments – Forest, BESCOM, Fire and Emergency Services, BWSSB, BBMP and Traffic Police.

The BBMP’s Storm Water Drain (SWD) Department has also identified 211 vulnerable SWDs, which have to be worked on this year. According to the list, 58 of these are severely vulnerable and 153 are moderately vulnerable.

Map showing vulnerable spots during the monsoon in Bangalore.
To find your location on the interactive map, click here.
Is your neighbourhood vulnerable? Check BBMP's list of localities and action taken.

Bengaluru West and RR Nagara top the list

Of the nine SWD Divisions under BBMP, West and RR Nagara have the highest number of vulnerable points – 38 and 39 respectively. Mahadevapura comes in next, with 32 vulnerable locations. However, compared to West and RR Nagara divisions, the number of ‘severely vulnerable’ points are much higher in Mahadevapura, making it one of the most at-risk zones this monsoon.

Each vulnerable spot is assigned a ‘vulnerable buffer radius’ – that is, an area around the spot that’s at risk. According to the list, an SWD near Rachanahalli Lake inlet has the highest buffer radius of 1 km, and is likely to overflow. Other prominent spots include Manyata Tech Park (650 m), Sony Signal in Koramangala (500 m), Manpho Convention Centre (850 m) and Peenya Industrial Area 3rd Phase (500 m).

Bengaluru South and Yelahanka divisions have the least number of vulnerable points, at 10 and 11 respectively.

List showing vulnerable spots during the monsoon in Bangalore.
The number of localities vulnerable to flooding in each division (Source: BBMP)

BBMP is preparing these high-risk areas for the monsoon, mostly by desilting SWDs so as to remove blockages and reclaim their lost capacity. In some cases, new drains are to be installed or RCC retaining walls built. As per BBMP’s list, many of the SWDs have already been desilted; however, in several other cases, tenders have only been called for maintenance works.

BBMP’s efforts aimed at troubleshooting

Stormwater drains are indispensable parts of any city’s hydrological infrastructure. They become particularly important during the monsoon, as they carry run-off rainwater into larger water bodies.

Even up till a century ago, Bengaluru had 793 km of streams, which acted as stormwater drains during the monsoon, and connected to 262 tanks or lakes. However, a 2014 study by the research collective Gubbi Labs found that 376 km of these streams had been lost. The city’s lost drainage infrastructure is a major reason why it gets flooded every monsoon.

Floods in Bengaluru during October 2005, in Bommanahalli area. Pic: Champaka Rajagopal

But there are problems with the existing infrastructure too. “There may be many problems with stormwater drains — they may be incomplete, there may be encroachment or even things clogging it. All of this has to be fixed.” says BBMP Mahadevpura Chief Engineer Parameshwariah.

Of these, encroachment by residential layouts, tech parks or other illegal constructions are the hardest to deal with. The Gubbi Labs study had found that at least 170 km of drains had been shrunk due to construction, leading to major losses of the network.

While it may not be possible reclaim all the encroached drains in the city, BBMP’s preparations for the monsoon are usually centered on desilting operational drains. “Our intervention is in two forms – structural and non-structural,” says Parameshwariah. Structural interventions are focused on completing construction of SWDs, whereas non-structural ones will be focused on repair, maintenance and desilting work.

In Mahadevapura zone, apart from the 32 stormwater drains, BBMP has identified vulnerable places at the road and ward levels. According to Parameshwariah, there are 10 underpasses, 20 spots on heavy-traffic roads and 16 other locations in the zone that are likely to be flooded.

According to him, the work on all vulnerable locations is likely to be finished soon, with much of it already completed. “We have arrangements with maintenance contractors to repair vulnerable spots. Work on 22 stormwater drains is complete and 10 are in progress,” he says.

What can you do?

According to BBMP, 63 temporary control rooms have been set up for monsoon relief at the sub-divisional level. Two teams are also working in day and night shifts to provide relief in case of emergencies or complaints. Eight zonal and one city-level control room will be overseeing them.

In case of emergencies or complaints, citizens can contact either their local control rooms or one of the eight zonal teams.

Details of the eight zonal teams are as follows:

Bommanahalli
Forest DepartmentGopal A A, RFO Kaggalipura Range, 9448812266
Balakrishna G, DCF Anekal Range, 9902881158
BESCOMThippeswamy, Superintendent Engineer Bengaluru South Circle, 9449877444
Fire & Emergency ServicesB H Nagaraj, DFO Electronic City Fire Station, 9980730684
BWSSBRajashekar A, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845694593
BBMPSiddegowda, Chief Engineer, 9480685348
Traffic PoliceC E Timmaiah, ACP Southeast Traffic Mob: 9480801805
Dasarahalli
Forest DepartmentNarasimhamurthy, RFO Bengaluru Range, 8217778036
Sri. Govindaraj DCF Bengaluru Range, 9902071876
BESCOMSuresh, Executive Engineer Peenya Division, 9449844609
Fire & Emergency ServicesJagadeesh, DFO Peenya Fire Station, 9963391773
BWSSBSuresh R, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845444006
BBMPPrabhakar, Chief Engineer, 9480685379
Traffic PoliceMallikarjun Chukki, ACP North Traffic, 9480801907
East
Forest DepartmentSyed Nizamuddin, RFO KR Puram Range, 9880763007
Harshavardhan, DCF KR Puram Range, 9964434414
BESCOMMalathesh, Superintendent Engineer Bengaluru East Circle, 9449877999
Fire & Emergency ServicesHemanth Kumar, DFO South Fire Station, 9008728130
BWSSBT R Srinivas, Additional Chief Engineer, 9731300882
BBMPDoddaiah, Chief Engineer, 9480683113
Traffic PolicePrashant Siddangoudar, ACP East Traffic, 948080l806
Rangaswamy, ACP Central, 9480801807
Mahadevapura
Forest DepartmentSyed Nizamuddin, RFO KR Puram Range, 9880763007
Shivaraju, DCF KR Puram Range, 9164426148
BESCOMPhalanethra, Executive Engineer Whitefield Division, 8277893919
Fire & EmergencyR S Putti, DFO EPIP Fire Station, 9901497906
BWSSBRajeev K N, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845444114
BBMPParameshwaraiah, Chief Engineer, 9480683181
Traffic PolicePrashant Siddangoudar, ACP East Traffic, 9480801806
C E Timmaiah, ACP Southeast Traffic, 9480801805
RR Nagar
Forest DepartmentGopal A A, RFO Kaggalipura Range, 9448812266
Naveen Kumar, DCF Kaggalipura Range, 9901516498
BESCOMVishwanath Solanki, Superintendent Engineer Bengaluru West Circle, 9449847999
Fire & Emergency ServicesB M Shekar, DFO Bengaluru North Fire Station, 9341255869
BWSSBKumar Nayak L, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845444064
BBMPVijay Kumar, Chief Engineer, 9480683190
Traffic PoliceGopalkrishna Goudar, ACP West Traffic, 9480801905
South
Forest DepartmentGopal A A, RFO Kaggalipura Range, 9448812266
Peersab Nadaf, DCF KR Puram Range, 7353666838
BESCOMChennakeshava, Executive Engineer Jayanagar Division, 9449844612
Fire & Emergency ServicesNagesh, DFO Jayanagar Fire Station, 9901426323
BWSSBVenkatesh S V, Additional Chief Engineer, 9686572630
BBMPMudduraj, Chief Engineer, 9480684037
Traffic PoliceRamesh K N, ACP South Traffic, 9480801906
West
Forest DepartmentNarasimhamurthy, RFO Bengaluru Range, 8217778036
Manjunath G, DCF Bengaluru Range, 9886632327
BESCOMKrishna Prasad, Executive Engineer Malleshwaram Division, 9449844607
Fire & Emergency ServicesDevaraj, DFO Yeshwanthpur Fire Station, 9141269394
BWSSBMahesh K N, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845444059
BBMPNagaraj, Chief Engineer, 9480683361
Traffic PoliceGopalkrishna Goudar, ACP West Traffic, 9480801905
Mallikarjun Chukki, ACP North Traffic, 9480801907
Yelahanka
Forest DepartmentManjunath H V, RFO Yelahanka Range 9740037333
Sri. Harshavardhan DCF KR Puram Range, 9964434414
BESCOMChandran, Superintendent Engineer Bengaluru North Circle, 9449844988
Fire & EmergencyKishore, DFO Yelahanka Fire Station, 9620042541
BWSSBJayashankar, Additional Chief Engineer, 9845444009
BBMPRanganath, Chief Engineer, 9480684473
Traffic PoliceSathish M H, ACP Northeast, 9480801073

Comments:

  1. Dhiraj Sharma says:

    No use, BBMP will not support the people who are in need, I have problem .but BBMP local officer scolded me that am wrong .. but supported the others who was occupied the road .. they have closed the drainage where rain water suppose to go

    They will not support who need help

  2. Akshat says:

    Can someone tell how are these risks calculated? What sort of data is used?

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