Bengaluru: CM Bommai chairs meeting to discuss waterlogging; asks officials to suggest solutions

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday chaired a meeting to discuss the waterlogging in several parts of Bengaluru following the rainfall on Thursday night.

In the meeting, he ordered Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials to submit a report on short-term and long-term solutions to tackle the issue.

He further directed the officials to identify stretches where retention walls of stormwater drains (SWD) are weak and lead to flooding. The total length of SWDs in the city, 842 km, and 389 km of the retaining walls have been built. Also, the desilting of SWDs would be taken up in summer.

BBMP has 64 rescue teams, each comprising 15 members, Bommai said that the number of members will be increased to 30 and the manpower will be pooled from the home guard and civil defence.

The Disaster Response Team in Bengaluru will be increased from one to four with the help of the State Disaster Response Fund and the Finance Department.

Bommai said that the government will also provide necessary grants for the flood relief measures that will be carried out by the BBMP and NDRF.