Day after flash floods, residents pick up the pieces

A man tries to salvage his belongings following the flash floods. DH PHOTO/B H SHIVAKUMAR

A woman clears the floodwater from home. DH PHOTO/B H SHIVAKUMAR

The breach in Doddabidarakallu Lake affected 300 families in and around Doddabidarakallu. DH PHOTO/B H SHIVAKUMAR

A day after flash floods caused widespread damage in Doddabidarakallu, most of the residents returned to their homes and started picked up the pieces on Friday.

The residents had to flee after floodwater entered around 300 homes following a breach in Doddabidarakallu Lake around 1.30 am on Thursday. Over 200 vehicles were also damaged as the floodwater overflowed on the streets.

The BBMP has started draining floodwater from homes and streets. “We need to clear the floodwater from vacant lands,” said Vinay Kumar, Chief Engineer, Rajarajeshwari Nagar Zone, BBMP.

As part of the relief works, the BBMP has been providing food and water to all the affected families and will do so for another week. Kumar said only 25 families were still stayed put in a government school as their homes were not yet inhabitable.

Meantime, the civic body has asked the local assistant revenue officers (AROs) for a report on the damages caused by the flash floods. This will help it determine the compensation for each household.

The BBMP’s efforts came in for rare praise from citizens. Chandrakant Joshi, of Bhavani Nagar, said he was “absolutely happy” at the way the BBMP took up the rehabilitation works and helped them return home.

He said BBMP workers helped drain the floodwater from their homes and gave them food. The residents hadn’t been so effusive in their praise of the BBMP on Thursday. They had actually raised slogans against BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar and Mayor M Gowtham Kumar when they came visiting the affected areas. “We, the residents, want to thank BBMP for its concern,” Joshi said.

The BBMP sought to dismiss reports that the lake bund breached owing to the pipeline undertaken by the BWSSB. “The BWSSB laid the pipelines in the existing vent of the tank without cutting the bund,” it said in a statement.