Bengaluru's civic body BBMP to partner with IISc for flood prediction

In the backdrop of the flooding in Bengaluru during the monsoon season last year, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the civic body, is on the verge of an agreement with IISc Bangalore to create a model to predict an area's susceptibility to flooding for the city, sources in the BBMP told ET.
The model, which will be tested this monsoon season, will be sanctioned around Rs 2.5 crore over three years. The data will then be used to prioritise drain clean up in different parts of the city.

Last year, the city - known as India’s Silicon Valley - experienced its highest rainfall so far, clocking in 1,560 mm rain against its average of 950 mm, BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath told ET. “This year, we have deployed 28 contractors - one per division - and we’re getting stormwater drains cleared out once every three months. The work is on track,” he said. The whole clean up project, he added, costs around Rs 3000 crore.

A bigger challenge is the litany of incomplete works dotting the city, which stop the flow of water and cause flooding. “This year, we have ensured that at least the excavation part is done, if not the lining,” said Nath.

According to a report by property consultancy firm Frank Knight, the city needs a network of about 658-km of new stormwater drains to cope with the pressures of the monsoon, which would cost around Rs 2,800 crore. The report, released on Wednesday, said that while real-estate has been rapidly developing in the city, the drainage system has not caught up, putting enormous pressure on existing structures.

Last year, monsoon showers in September had brought the tech belt of the city to its knees. The heavily constructed, low-lying areas bore the brunt of the rains, forcing companies to shift to work-from-home.

This year, pre-monsoon showers have seen water-logging in several parts of the city. An Infosys techie lost her life last month as she got stuck in a car in a flooded underpass near KR circle - barely a kilometre away from the Vidhana Soudha, the state's seat of power.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for two days on Wednesday, leaving the police and BBMP officials scrambling to come up with a plan to deal with rain damage in the heavy-traffic city.