Bengaluru loses 171 trees to rains in 6 days

Bengaluru: In the last six days alone, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) reported a staggering number of casualties: 171 fallen trees and 690 fallen branches.

Lack of pruning and maintenance of the trees are blamed for their fall.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said the civic body has increased the number of teams to attend to complaints related to the fall of trees during the monsoon season.

“By the end of the day, we will be clearing all the broken branches and uprooted trees that are currently left along the roads,” he said.

Homes flooded 

Besides the trees, at least 196 places were flooded, including 10 houses. Officials said the flooding was not severe as the water was cleared in about one to two hours. Surprisingly, the BBMP, according to officials, considers flooding to be a serious matter only if the water does not clear on its own within 48 hours.

While the BBMP had identified about 190 flood-vulnerable places across the city, a majority of these points have been fixed by building retaining walls.

Girinath said the BBMP is yet to tackle 74 such places permanently, but arrangements have been made to provide temporary measures such as deployment of earthmovers and pumpsets to clear water.

“We will be tackling these flood-vulnerable points by taking monetary support from the National Disaster Management Fund and the World Bank,” he said.

The BBMP has also created disaster management teams at sub-divisional levels to respond to complaints immediately. It has also set up an integrated command control centre (ICCC) for receiving complaints and supervision.

Each ward has also been given Rs 30 lakh for desilting roadside drains, besides funding for the upkeep of rajakaluves.