Have taken up challenge to restore rain-battered Bengaluru: CM Bommai
‘Maladministration of Cong governments has led to deluge in capital city’
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday blamed the previous Congress governments' 'maladministration' and unprecedented rains in the capital city for the deluge.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, despite all odds, his government has taken it up as a challenge to restore the rain-battered city, and ensure that such things don't recur.
Owing to the torrential downpour that lashed the state capital for the last couple of days, several areas are still under water with houses and vehicles partially inundated, thereby affecting normal life.
"Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, has not received unprecedented heavy rain. For the last 90 years, such rain has not been recorded. All the tanks are overflowing; some of them have breached. There have been continuous rains, every day it is raining," Bommai said.
He said, a picture is being portrayed that the entire city is facing difficulties, which is not the case. "Basically, the issue lies in two zones, particularly the Mahadevapura zone, for reasons such as the presence of 69 tanks in that small area. Almost all the tanks have either breached or are overflowing. Secondly, all establishments are in low lying areas, and the third is encroachments," he listed out.
Blaming the "maladministration and unplanned administration" of the previous Congress governments for the present day misery, Bommai said that they had given permissions for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas, on the tank bunds and buffer zones. They had never thought of maintaining the lakes, he said.
Stating that his government has taken overcoming the situation as a "challenge", the CM said, officers, engineers, workers and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are working round-the-clock. "I have given Rs 1,500 crores for development of storm water drains, I have yesterday released Rs 300 crore to remove all encroachments and do a pucca structure along the storm water drains and for the infrastructure, so that there are no impediments and bottleneck in the flow of water,” said Bommai.
"We have cleared lots of encroachments and will continue to do so. We are installing sluice gates by the tanks so that they can be managed better. I have instructed officials to ensure that the control room staff work for longer hours. We have started dewatering in most of the areas. Other than one or two areas, almost all areas have been dewatered," Bommai said, adding that there is no respite from rain for such work to continue properly.
Observing that the T K Halli pump house in Malavalli taluk of Mandya, which pumps Cauvery water to Bengaluru, is affected due to overflowing of the Bheemeshwara River and water from the surrounding lakes, the CM said, two pump houses were affected. “Flood water is being drained out, but it will take two days to drain out water and to resume work in full capacity,” he added.
An alternative plan has been formulated for water supply to Bengaluru, he said. “Around 8,000 bore wells are under the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) and 4,000 under Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will be activated and they would supply water during the disruption in Cauvery water supply to areas. Water in tankers will be supplied on behalf of the government to the areas where there are no bore wells, he added. "I request cooperation from the people for the next couple of days,” Bommai stated.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
