‘SMART CITY’ or FLOATING CITY? ! If Crores Spent on New Drains, Why Mluru Roads Still Flooded?

‘SMART CITY’ or FLOATING CITY? ! If Crores Spent on New Drains, Why Mluru Roads Still Flooded? The Videos in this report will SPEAK more than WORDS as to how this ‘SMART CITY’ looks when it rains heavily!

Mangaluru : Mangaluru has been hit with heavy rain today, and heavy rains will continue in the next couple of days- and already the City roads are flooded with water, while low-lying areas are submerged under water? Residents/citizens are sharing videos of the difficulties they were facing, to awaken the City officials about their unscientific drainage work. The Coastal City has a history of flooding after heavy rain. Encroachment on storm water drains and blockage of these drains with garbage and construction debris is another challenge. Residents of low-lying areas in this Education Hub continue to worry about the higher than usual rainfall. The city which has become a concrete jungle has led into this flooding situation- and nothing has been done to fix this issue since years.

If you travel across the City, every nook and corner of the city is flooded-even though with newly constructed drainage seen adjacent to these flooded roads. Then what’s the use spending taxpayers money on new drainage, when water is still flooded on the streets. Even after decades, with the City experiencing flooding during monsoons and still they have not found a permanent solution for this problem, which arises year after year during heavy rains. And in spite of constructing new drains, it looks like it’s a waste of tax-payers money, since water is still oozing out of these drains onto the roads, creating havoc to motorists and pedestrians. And it’s always the same spots where flooding takes place, like the one in front of City Centre Mall, on KS Rao road- and even this year, water gushing out of the manhole resulting in flooding of the road.

Even though the various problems created by the flooding and so on, was an eye-opener for Mangaluru City Corporation Mayor, City engineers/contractors and other officials but it doesn’t seems like they have learned anything nor they care to improve and rectify the problems- while the streets remain still flooded during heavy rains. So by the way, why does this happen? Fundamentally, the existing infrastructure and drainage system in the city cannot handle the excess water whenever there’s a downpour. Originally, storm water drains in the City were designed in keeping the water stored- They served the purpose so long as the population of the city was within a certain limit. The unprecedented growth of Mangaluru, unaccompanied by the necessary infrastructure, has precipitated problems of a large magnitude. The city drainage system comprises major drains, roadside drains and shoulder drains, all of which get overburdened during the rainy season.

Regarding the newly constructed drainage- most of them don’t have a proper beginning and a proper end- as a result drain water overflows to the streets. Poor planning and poor work, for sure. Also culverts are not de-silted; puddles not identified; no proper channels to drain rain water in many parts of the city; also MCC says that solid waste management contractors have failed to remove garbage/debris choked drains. Encroachments, revenue layouts and illegal constructions, especially along storm water drains and in low-lying areas, are other major causes of flooding. These problems are common to all cities in India and are not peculiar to Mangaluru.

In fact, coastal cities like Mangaluru face bigger problems, virtually every monsoon. What’s required is a comprehensive approach to the problem, which essentially involves putting in place a sustainable drainage management system as in developed countries. A storm water drain renovation and management projects pertaining to these issues need to be implemented soon. As the city grows in population and sprawl, there’s a need for concerted action on the part of city planning and civic agencies to tackle the problem of flooding, which can not only damage the physical infrastructure but has serious implications on the safety and security of the people.

If the newly constructed drainage system is not effective during heavy rains, there goes Crores of money down the drain. Crores more spent on such projects that remain a mess. If it seems like a muddle, that’s because it is one. And the underlying cause of the mess: Our City corporation has no clear policy on how your roads or drainage should be built. Citizens are facing another nightmarish monsoon of bad roads and unscientific drainage. “What is the use of spending so much? Every year, MCC spends huge sums of money, but it’s useless because work is not done the right way. Such expenditure will only benefit contractors and vested interests.

Building a good drainage system should form a part of the Mangaluru Master Plan, which is lacking terribly. While the City officials and local MLA’s, MLC and other politicians are boasting about Mangaluru as one of the “SMART CITY” of India, it is time that they also put in some dedicated, sincere and committed “SMART” people to manage effective work in the development of the city- and also make sure that the drainage and footpaths are constructed to the standards, which will benefit the citizens of Mangaluru.