Citizens unaware of flood alert system

As the recent downpour wreaked havoc in many parts of the city, the focus is back on Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s efforts to prevent and tackle flood situations. Bengaluru has a system in place for flood alerts, but is it useful to people? Does BBMP alert people when there is a flood? DH spoke to a few citizens only to find out that many were unaware of how the flood alert system worked.

Rishika Menon, a resident of Whitefield, shared her experience: "In the last 15 days, our apartment got flooded twice. On August 30 night, when it flooded for the first time, waterlog stayed in our apartment basement for two days. And when it flooded again on September 5 night, it stayed for three-four days. The flooding happened as the apartment wall collapsed because of the course of water in Rajakaluve nearby. We didn’t receive any sort of flood warning from anybody.”

Raghu Rajagopal, general secretary of Koramangala 4th Block Residents Welfare Association said, "The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) has installed sensors at critical points. But residents haven't got any pre-alerts other than the IMD alerts."

Also Read | Traffic, water shortages, now floods: The slow death of India's tech hub?

However, he points out that BBMP comes to the rescue. “BBMP stormwater drain department engineers do connect with us when the rain begins and have offered or organised help,” Rajagopal said.

Usha S, a student, said: "I am a person who is born and bought up in Bengaluru, I have never heard anything about the alert systems and during the recent flood, we didn't get any information from BBMP."

"Firstly there are manholes everywhere in Bengaluru. Secondly, no civic body takes care of them when they flood. There is no one to go to when manholes burst open on the street," she adds, highlighting the lapse of BWSSB's sewage network causing floods in some areas.

Also Read | Govt ignored climate change warnings, says Siddaramaiah

She says that instead of cleaning and taking care of a few lakes that are on the verge of extinction, they are digging up the good roads as elections are nearing.

Kamran Shahid, a resident of BTM Layout, says: "I didn't know KSNDMC sends flood alerts. I have never got any alert from them. So, if they are sending alerts, how and to whom are they sending them? Are they sending it via social media or via an emergency alert notification on mobiles? It's not helping me. But I would be happy to work with them to develop a system where this information can be smoothly cascaded down."