Y Maheswara Reddy
Why didBengaluru move six ft under right through the weekend? Because town administrators sat on their fingers all this while. Result: Over 100 trees fell , snapping energy strains and plunging the city into darkness
Monday morning blues were excruciating for mostBengalureans after they saw gigantic trees decreased to puny stumps – Sunday night time’s rains had wreaked havoc on Bengaluru.
Trees collapsing because of gale pressure winds and heavy rains is not a brand new phenomenon for Bengaluru; in case you concept that this yr it’s worse because rains had been lashing the city relentlessly, you might be wrong. Between March 1 and May 27, Bengaluru won 166.5 mm cumulative rainfall. Last yr, right through the same duration, it used to be over 250 mm. “This figure is calculated from the information available from about 1,000 Telemetric Rain Gauges put in around theBangalore Urban District,” said SN Gavaskar of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).
“We had been warning the state government on a daily basis for the reason that starting of this yr’s pre-monsoon season. Based on the warning they were meant to take vital motion,” said Geeta Agnihotri, head of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru.
So what came about?
In two words – rigor mortis. It has turn into a habit for the Mayor, Minister for Bengaluru Development and other officers to consult with some rain-affected areas and pull up junior officers in entrance of the cameras. But to Bengalureans, it’s as clear as Talakaveri water that those visits are just PR workout.
On the ground, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) has taken few steps to protect the city, its citizens and its natural good looks. There are 21 teams of tree cutters with the BBMP wooded area division but they're but to get arrears price crores of rupees for the previous couple of years and are thus reluctant to take in fresh work.
BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests MK Cholarajappa couldn’t be bothered more. He says his responsibility ends once he forwards the main points of the arrears to higher authorities.
Indiscriminate trimming of branches, reducing of roots for infrastructure work and concretising footpaths round trees are one of the crucial other ways through which the BBMP strikes the deadly blow.
“Many trees in the town that haven't any space around the stumps. Concretising pavements without leaving any space around the tree stumps for percolation of rain water will weaken the trees,” says Suresh Heblikar, an environmentalist.
That’s not all. BBMP is not taking steps to ensure that the lost inexperienced quilt is someway replenished. “Not a unmarried sapling used to be planted right through closing yr. No BBMP authorities or elected representatives have bothered in regards to the want to plant increasingly more saplings,” says Vijay Nishanth, an urban conservationist and animal activist.
Heblikar says that the main reason trees fell in such massive numbers is the loss of knowledgeable committee for identification of old and decayed trees. “The BBMP had constituted knowledgeable committee more than a decade ago when MR Sreenivasa Murthy used to be BBMP Commissioner. Ironically, the professional staff was defunct after two months. Till now, no effort has been made for constituting knowledgeable committee,” he says.
“The concretisation of pavements and drains is the main reason for the trees changing into vulnerable. The other reason is indiscriminate and unscientific trimming of tree branches by Bescom workers. Cutting of tree branches reasons fungus and termite infestations thus making trees vulnerable,” says SG Neginhal, the man answerable for the masses of trees that line Bengaluru’s roads.
Chaos at KIA
Sunday’s heavy downpour inconvenienced fliers. For about half an hour, between eight.17 pm and 8.51 pm, no flights took off or landed because of inclement climate, resulting in a cascading impact. At least 10 flights were diverted to within reach airports as landing used to be not imaginable.
However, many passengers had a nightmarish experience because the roads resulting in the airport were chock-a-block. A hoarding had collapsed near the Trumpet Intersection leading to slow movement of site visitors.
Passengers additionally faced difficulties because of the unavailability of cabs.
“Pathetic to look @BLRAirport disintegrated to its lowest level till date. 90 minutes waiting for taxi. Unscientific queue for taxi. Mosquito risk. People dozing in airport premises with blankets & mosquito web. Overall 3rd grade bus stand feeling,” @RameshBeeke said.
The dark ages
Bescom took a heavy beating on Sunday night time -- not handiest did its transformers collapse and gear strains snapped, it additionally faced the ire of Bengalureans who had a powerless night time. In Singanayakanahalli and Rajanukunte divisions, there used to be an influence outage of over 20 hours. The E4 sub division which supplies energy to areas like Shanti Niketan and Bagmane Tech Park has been supplying energy for handiest four four hours on a daily basis for the past 3 days. Residents of Cooke Town and Malleswaram too faced the brunt of energy outage as the realm reeled under an influence reduce of over 15 hours. RT Nagar 1st Block area had to face an influence outage of over 20 hours.
— Bharat Hegde
Why did
Monday morning blues were excruciating for most
Trees collapsing because of gale pressure winds and heavy rains is not a brand new phenomenon for Bengaluru; in case you concept that this yr it’s worse because rains had been lashing the city relentlessly, you might be wrong. Between March 1 and May 27, Bengaluru won 166.5 mm cumulative rainfall. Last yr, right through the same duration, it used to be over 250 mm. “This figure is calculated from the information available from about 1,000 Telemetric Rain Gauges put in around the
“We had been warning the state government on a daily basis for the reason that starting of this yr’s pre-monsoon season. Based on the warning they were meant to take vital motion,” said Geeta Agnihotri, head of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru.
So what came about?
In two words – rigor mortis. It has turn into a habit for the Mayor, Minister for Bengaluru Development and other officers to consult with some rain-affected areas and pull up junior officers in entrance of the cameras. But to Bengalureans, it’s as clear as Talakaveri water that those visits are just PR workout.
On the ground, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahangara Palike (BBMP) has taken few steps to protect the city, its citizens and its natural good looks. There are 21 teams of tree cutters with the BBMP wooded area division but they're but to get arrears price crores of rupees for the previous couple of years and are thus reluctant to take in fresh work.
BBMP Deputy Conservator of Forests MK Cholarajappa couldn’t be bothered more. He says his responsibility ends once he forwards the main points of the arrears to higher authorities.
Indiscriminate trimming of branches, reducing of roots for infrastructure work and concretising footpaths round trees are one of the crucial other ways through which the BBMP strikes the deadly blow.
“Many trees in the town that haven't any space around the stumps. Concretising pavements without leaving any space around the tree stumps for percolation of rain water will weaken the trees,” says Suresh Heblikar, an environmentalist.
That’s not all. BBMP is not taking steps to ensure that the lost inexperienced quilt is someway replenished. “Not a unmarried sapling used to be planted right through closing yr. No BBMP authorities or elected representatives have bothered in regards to the want to plant increasingly more saplings,” says Vijay Nishanth, an urban conservationist and animal activist.
Heblikar says that the main reason trees fell in such massive numbers is the loss of knowledgeable committee for identification of old and decayed trees. “The BBMP had constituted knowledgeable committee more than a decade ago when MR Sreenivasa Murthy used to be BBMP Commissioner. Ironically, the professional staff was defunct after two months. Till now, no effort has been made for constituting knowledgeable committee,” he says.
“The concretisation of pavements and drains is the main reason for the trees changing into vulnerable. The other reason is indiscriminate and unscientific trimming of tree branches by Bescom workers. Cutting of tree branches reasons fungus and termite infestations thus making trees vulnerable,” says SG Neginhal, the man answerable for the masses of trees that line Bengaluru’s roads.
Chaos at KIA
Sunday’s heavy downpour inconvenienced fliers. For about half an hour, between eight.17 pm and 8.51 pm, no flights took off or landed because of inclement climate, resulting in a cascading impact. At least 10 flights were diverted to within reach airports as landing used to be not imaginable.
However, many passengers had a nightmarish experience because the roads resulting in the airport were chock-a-block. A hoarding had collapsed near the Trumpet Intersection leading to slow movement of site visitors.
Passengers additionally faced difficulties because of the unavailability of cabs.
“Pathetic to look @BLRAirport disintegrated to its lowest level till date. 90 minutes waiting for taxi. Unscientific queue for taxi. Mosquito risk. People dozing in airport premises with blankets & mosquito web. Overall 3rd grade bus stand feeling,” @RameshBeeke said.
.
The dark ages
Bescom took a heavy beating on Sunday night time -- not handiest did its transformers collapse and gear strains snapped, it additionally faced the ire of Bengalureans who had a powerless night time. In Singanayakanahalli and Rajanukunte divisions, there used to be an influence outage of over 20 hours. The E4 sub division which supplies energy to areas like Shanti Niketan and Bagmane Tech Park has been supplying energy for handiest four four hours on a daily basis for the past 3 days. Residents of Cooke Town and Malleswaram too faced the brunt of energy outage as the realm reeled under an influence reduce of over 15 hours. RT Nagar 1st Block area had to face an influence outage of over 20 hours.
— Bharat Hegde
Know why Bengaluru went six feet under during the weekend
![Know why Bengaluru went six feet under during the weekend]()
Reviewed by Kailash
on
May 28, 2019
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