Streets Still Flooded Even Though MCC had Spent Crores on New Drainage?

Streets Still Flooded Even Though MCC had Spent Crores on New Drainage?

City Streets Still Flooded Even Though MCC Spent Crores on New Drainage? Hard earned tax-payers money gone down the drain! City authorities and elected politicians should fix the bad roads and also the drainage FIRST, rather than sanctioning crores of rupees towards Fun Train at Kadri Park or other not so important tourist structures. Good Roads and Good Drainage are the need of the hour-Period!

Mangaluru: Remember couple months ago, Jyothi Circle flooded which looked like a “Small River” which made headlines in all the media publications, but if you look at the City at various locations, even it is rains heavy for one or two hours, the streets are flooded at every nook and corner of the city -even though newly constructed drainage are nearby. It’s sad to note that even after decades of the city experiencing flooding during monsoons 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. For years people have seen flooding in front of City Centre Mall, on KS Rao road- and even this year it is the same, with water gushing out of the manhole resulting in flooding of the road.

Recently 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 seem 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, stormwater 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 onto the streets. Poor planning and poor work, for sure. Also, culverts are not de-silted; puddles not identified; no proper channels to drain rainwater in many parts of the city; also MCC says that solid waste management contractors have failed to remove garbage/debris-choked drains. Due to the recent furious flooding, MCC Mayor Kavitha Sanil had taken her colleagues/officials to task and warned them for their failure to prepare the city to face the monsoon fiery. She also instructed them not to take up any road-digging works during monsoon season and also ordered them to complete the works of roads which were dug to repair public utility service lines soon. But seems like no one is taking Mayors orders seriously because drainage/road work is going on even when it rains-like the concreting work near St Agnes College, Opposite Vas Bakery. Will these officials comply with Mayor’s orders is something that needs to be seen to believe?

Heavy rains that lashed the City on Saturday for few hours saw flooding at various places like low-lying areas like Kottara Chowki, Padil, Alake, Kadri Kambala, KMC Attavar, etc- even few houses were flooded when stormwater came gushing out of the choked up drains. Near PVS junction, rainwater gushed into a couple of shops in the basement of a commercial complex. Even a wall collapsed behind City centre mall, damaging quite a few parked cars. A power generator of Restorica Apartments in Bejai collapsed on a compound wall- and apartment residents are filing a complaint against the builder for negligence. Even stormwater drains near Ballalbagh, Bejai, Alake and in that vicinity were seen overflowing with water which made hard for pedestrians and motorists to commute.

Traffic at Nanthoor junction, PVS, Navabharath circle, KS Rao road, Bunts Hotel road and many other busy junctions were thrown out of gear due to stranded water. Since it was hard to wade through the flooded water, traffic jam was seen for long stretches near these junctions. School and college going students also faced the brunt of the weather and flooded streets, and were stranded at the bus bays for hours waiting for their buses. Even though the heavy rains didn’t cause much damage or loss of life, but it did cause panic and inconveniences to the commuters, who couldn’t reach their homes in time. So is the MCC doing anything to solve this ongoing flooding issues, even though it had built new drainages spending huge money on them?

In conclusion, encroachments, revenue layouts and illegal constructions, especially along stormwater 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 stormwater 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. 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.