POLITICAL SLUGFEST BETWEEN GOVT AND CONGRESS OVER FLOOD MANAGEMENT

As Bengaluru grapples with unprecedented floods due to heavy rainfall, a political slugfest has begun between the Congress and the ruling BJP, blaming each other for the deteriorating condition of India’s Silicon Valley.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar hit back at Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai’s remark for blaming the previous Congress government for the flood situation in Bengaluru and asked the latter to step down and let there be a President rule while adding that they will come to power and solve the problem of waterlogging in the city. Speaking to ANI after the prayer meeting at Rajiv Gandhi Memorial in Tamil Nadu’s Sriperumbudur, Shivakumar said “Our motto is different. I don’t want to reply to BJP leaders. What congress has done? He has the government… leave your power and let there be a President rule. We will come to power and solve the problem. The Congress party will keep everything united.”

Earlier the Chief Minister blamed “unprecedented” rainfall and “maladministration” of the previous Congress government for the flood situation in Bengaluru.

Speaking to reporters here, Bommai said, “Karnataka especially Bengaluru has received unprecedented rains. This kind of rain has not come in the last 90 years. All the tanks are full and they are overflowing. There is continuous rain. Even today it is raining.”

“This happened because of maladministration and totally unplanned administration of previous Congress government. They gave permission right, left and centre in the lakes and buffer zone,” said Bommai. The Chief Minister said that there is a perception that the entire Bengaluru is in a problem but that is not true.

“The entire Bengaluru is not in problem. The problem is in two zones, particularly Mahadevapura. The condition of Mahadevapura is because of 69 tanks in the small area. All are overflowing. Further, all the established is in low-lying areas. And there has been encroachment,” he said.

The Chief Minister said the administration is working round the clock to tackle the waterlogging problem in the city. He said control rooms have been made to resolve issues.

“We have taken it as a challenge. Our officers, engineers, workers and SDRF team are working 24X7. We have cleared a lot of encroachments. And we will continue to clear them. We are putting sluice gates at the tanks so that tanks can be well managed. We have started dewatering in most of the places. We have given Rs 1,500 crore for draining of water in Bengaluru while another Rs 300 crore has been given to remove encroachments. We will ensure that in future there is no impediment to the flow of water,” he said.

Bengaluru is reeling under severe waterlogging due to incessant heavy rains which continued to affect traffic in several areas of the city. Locals in Bengaluru continued to bear the brunt of severe waterlogging as water is yet to recede from roads and bylanes after Monday’s downpour. Many parts of the state are witnessing flood-like situations due to heavy rains.