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Express Buzz - Yelahanka battles water, traffic woesYELAHANKA Number of Wards - 2 Ward No 1 - Yelahanka Govindapura, Vasudevapura, Manchenahalli, Venkatala, Chowdeswari layout, Kamakshiamma layout, Yelahanka, Gandhi Nagar, East Colony, Ambedkar Colony, Judicial Layout, Allalasandra, Judicial Colony and Yelahanka Kere.
Ward No 2 - Yelahanka Satellite Town Harohalli, Ananthapura, Kenchenahalli, Doddabettahalli, Attur, Yelahanka New Town, Attur Layout, Udaya Layout, Somanagar, Yelahanka Satellite Town, Chikka Bommasandra, Mother Diary and Jantha Colony.
THE new Bangalore International Airport, just 10 to 12 km from Yelahanka, has brought along some benefits to this constituency comprising Yelahanka New Town and Old Town.
This constituency,which was the starting point for Kempe Gowda — the founder of Bangalore city — used to lack even basic amenities. But with the new airport, land prices have shot up and the Palike is armed with several projects, which are progressing at a fast pace, probably because BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya resides in the locality.
After the delimitation of constituencies, villages that came under Yelahanka Assembly segment were: Hesaraghatta, Dasanapura and the erstwhile Yelahanka CMC.
Though the Bellary Road (NH-7) cuts through Yelahanka, several areas have been deprived of civic amenities, proper connectivity and other basic infrastructure facilities.
About 91,294 people live in Yelahanka.
"Battered roads and underground drainage (UGD) are critical issues.
Infrastructure was not a priority here and even funds released for such works during erstwhile Yelahanka CMC, were inadequate," said a senior resident of Yelahanka Old Town and ex-councillor Surya Narayan.
"We were assured of Cauvery water supply about five years ago and a deposit for this was collected, but so far it has not materialised.We have had to settle for hard water pumped from bore-wells," he said.
Narendra, a resident of Yelahanka, said that the water supply was not only inadequate, but irregular too.
The constituency lacks an efficient garbage clearance system as the door-to- door collection is not active.
The Allalasandra railway crossing here is a danger point and motorists have to wait for more than half an hour to move. An increase in traffic in this locality has become a major cause of concern for the residents.
"We feel that some precast pedestrian subways, which take a couple of days to finish causing less inconvenience, should be built," said Narendra.
Old Yelahanka Town is in a worse condition and is deprived of bus stops, parks and playgrounds. The only graveyard and four of its lakes have been encroached upon. Further, the release of industrial waste from the Wheel and Axle Plant of the Indian Railways has worsened the condition of these encroached lakes.
The constituency needs overall improvement of the newly-added areas and villages. And whoever is elected to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike will have their hands full in making Yelahanka the ideal place to live in.
faiza@epmltd.com
10 new reservoirs to solve water woes-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of IndiaHere is some good news for those who have been waiting for regular Cauvery water supply in the newly added areas of the BBMP. The BWSSB has identified sites for setting up as many as 10 new reservoirs in these areas, which means, water supply will no longer be limited only to borewells.
There are 64 Ground Level Reservoirs/Low Level Reservoirs (GLRs/LLRs) in the core areas of the city that help store Cauvery water lifted at T K Halli, Harohalli and Tataguni. But, no reservoirs have been set up in the newly added BBMP areas.
However, nearly 72 wards in these areas adjoining the core areas had been supplied with Cauvery water through extended pipelines. The lack of space for storage of water has resulted in ineffective supply to these areas and many houses at higher ground levels are perennially affected by this.
The sites for the 10 new GLRs were recently identified. Tenders for these projects have also been called for. Once finalized, these new GLRs are expected to be in place by 2012. According to BWSSB officials, this project will help in better utlization of the 500 MLD extra water that will be received through the Cauvery IV Stage II Phase, which is also expected to be completed by then.
A total of Rs 30 crore out of the 50 crore sanctioned by the BDA has been set aside for this project. With funds already released by the government during its 100-day celebrations, the project seems to have made a start and could go a long way to ensure a solution to the long pending water woes.
Get us water | News | Down To Earth magazinepeople of Hebbagodi village in Anekal Taluk, Bangalore, are threatening to go on hunger strike if Biocon, a biotechnology firm, does not arrange for drinking water supply to the village.
Underground water in Hebbagodi and five surrounding villages is contaminated and the residents allege it is primarily because of Biocon’s 13-hectare insulin plant at Hebbagodi. The gram panchayat, taluk panchayat and the zilla panchayat have passed resolutions for the closure of the Biocon plant.
However, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (kspcb) did not find any flaw in Biocon’s waste management. “They’re not discharging effluents,” said Sharath Chandra, chairperson, kspcb. The board did find groundwater contamination but attributed it to urbanization of Hebbagodi and industrial estates, Veerasandra and Bommasandra, surrounding the village.
Hebbagodi residents don’t buy the argument. Said M Krishnappa who has built rooms for rent on his field: “My vegetable crops were failing as Biocon releases effluents into my field, which is behind the company wall.” The state Department of Health and Family Welfare in 2007 found the water in Hebbagodi’s open wells hard, alkaline, brackish and unfit for drinking.
The villagers are asking Biocon to intervene in getting them Cauvery water supplied in the city by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Water Board (bwssb). Biocon Chairman Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in May promised to take them to the chief minister but it did not happen. Company representative L Joseph said, “We are a zero-discharge plant but we have agreed to help the community get bwssb to supply water.”
CM tours rain-hit areas, makes promises galore-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of IndiaHe came, he saw and he promised. Like his predecessors had done down the years. Chief minister B S Yeddyurappa who toured the rain-hit areas on Thursday evening in fact went one step further: he declared that there would be no problem next year.
The downpour and massive flooding of peripheral areas did not escape Yeddyurappa’s attention while he was away in US for the AKKA conference.
On Thursday, the CM wasted no time and set out to tour the flood-hit areas in the evening. The flooded areas were nearly dry much to the joy of the civic authorities. Yeddyurappa’s first stop was the Hennur drain which saw one of the worst floods in the city: there was stench and signs of havoc everywhere.
He announced that a storm water drain and a bridge would be built there at a cost of Rs 15 crore. The work will start in the next 15 days.
Agitated residents of Bhairaweshwara Layout on Hennur Bande tried to get the CM to listen to their problems - on how water from the storm water drains came into their houses, how water level in their houses rose with the intensity of rain, how there has been no drinking water supply for the past three days. Some blamed the BDA for forming residential layouts in low-lying areas which was leading to floods every monsoon.
Rain pounds Bangalore, swamps many localities-Bangalore-Cities-The Times of IndiaBANGALORE: It was not the effect of a hurricane or a river changing its course. Only a moderate rainfall. The city which has been witnessing rain fury since the last week, saw heavy flooding and devastation on Sunday too. It's not just the low-lying areas that bore the brunt this time. ( Watch )
The rain gods did not spare posh localities like the Dollars Colony in RMV II stage either. The locality was so named as it was meant to be an exclusive layout for NRIs who were allotted sites by the BDA way back in 1980s. On Sunday, the area looked like a mini river with water entering the posh compounds.
When it started raining, Padma Srinivasa, who was till then relaxing with her daughter-in-law and four-month-old granddaughter, sprung into action. She started shifting things from the ground floor to safer places, moved out the vehicles from the garage and closed the flood gates. But once she saw the drain in front of her house swelling up, Padma knew this rain would maroon her house. And, within minutes, the road had three-feet water and the ground floor of her house submerged.
Nothing seems to have changed since the last monsoon: neither the pathetic conditions nor knee-jerk reaction of civic authorities. The weatherman has no cheering news either: the city will continue to have heavy rainfall in the next two days, dampening the Gowri-Ganesha festivities.
The intermittent rainfall of 20.4 mm on Sunday was termed as moderate in the weather books. But for the citizens, it was a nightmare. People who had made plans of going out had to be home-bound and were busy cleaning up their homes of the flooded mess.
Cut to the central areas - Seppings Road, Shivajinagar, Assey Road - they were totally under water. The scene was so bad that even two-wheelers parked on the roadside were seen floating. In Malleswaram, a portion of Margosa Road had collapsed and two buses were stuck which resulted in a traffic block. It took an hour-long operation to pull the wheels from the loose soil.
At Thimmaiah Garden, near RT Nagar, a wall collapsed which killed two cows and damaged three cars. A transformer adjoining the wall also collapsed which left the area in dark for sometime. Sanjaynagar Main Road and Mathikere bus stand were heavily flooded and posed a danger to commuters. Due to flooding of drains joining Ulsoor Lake, the surrounding areas had a backlash. HBR layout was a rain-ravaged area with the drain water flooding the sumps and houses.
The areas in the periphery faced rain fury with Hennur Bande, Vaddarapalya, Ramamurthynagar, Vijinipura, Lingarajpura, Subbannapalya, Kammanahalli, Cholonayakanahalli, Kadugondanahalli, parts of Yeshwanthpur and Dinnur submerged in water with more than 500 houses getting affected.
Eight tanks on the outskirts - Hebbal, Nagawara, Rachenahalli, Jakkur, Yelahanka, Kogilu, Agrahara, Bettahalasuru - overflowed inundating surrounding areas.
BBMP commissioner S Subramanya said measures initiated include shifting people to safer places, snapping power supply and taking care of food. About 200 families at Vaddarapalya were evacuated.
The Hindu : Front Page : Rain brings misery to BangaloreBangalore: Rain fury continued in Bangalore on Sunday as it poured misery on a large number of residents with water entering their houses and flooding roads, resulting in slow movement of vehicular traffic.
Residents of RMV 2nd Stage and Dollar’s Colony spent most part of the day draining rainwater out of their houses.
Problem
Padma Srinivas of 1st Cross, RMV 2nd Stage, said: “We face the problem year after year. The stormwater drain is small and cannot take the load. Officials of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) say they are powerless.”
“There is a four-month-old baby in our house. We are worried about spread of water-borne diseases,” she added.
Mala Bhat, another resident of RMV 2nd Stage, said: “We got flood gates installed to prevent this. However, we were not able to lock it on time, and rainwater gushed in.”
Ms. Bhat said BBMP officials recently came to inspect stormwater drains here and promised to increase their height.
Ajai Kumar Singh, Director General of Police (Corps of Detectives), who lives in Dollar’s Colony, too faced a similar problem. The drain in front of his house overflowed and water entered his house.
Krishnappa, who lives in a hut nearby, was standing on an elevated area in front of a flooded street. He said that rainwater had entered several huts.
Many residents of Byrasandra Layout, HBR Layout, Hennur Bande Bhadrappa Layout, Prakruthi Layout, Arkavathy Layout, and Narayana Vihara Layout, among others, faced similar problems.
Affected
Other affected areas are C.V. Raman Avenue, New BEL Road, Jayamahal Road, Cantonment and Majestic area.
Many houses in railway quarters in Yeshwantpur were affected. Balraj D., a technician, said that the drains overflowed, and rainwater entered their houses. “We have complained about the incident. Yet no higher official has visited us,” he said.
Surya Prakash, who was travelling from Mulbagal to Bangalore, had to drive through roads “which had turned into virtual rivers” near Doddabanaswadi. Vehicles were moving in a slow pace and it increased journey by several hours, he added.
A traffic constable on duty at Mekhri Circle said that the movement of vehicles was affected for more than two hours. “The underpass was blocked and vehicles tried to take a deviation by taking C.V. Raman Avenue. We had a tough time managing traffic,” he added.
The Sanjaynagar Main Road caved in and the wheels of a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus got stuck in it, while the wall of the Parachute Regiment building in R.T. Nagar collapsed, killing a cow and damaging a car.
Rainfall for August
Rainfall for August in the city doubled this year in comparison with the average rainfall of previous years. While Bangalore received 309.8 mm rainfall this August, the average rain for the month is 147 mm.
The city recorded 20.4 mm rainfall on Sunday, according to the Meteorological Department sources.
Heavy rain has been forecast for the next three days.
