SWD work to be completed in December.

As parts of the city drown during the rain, the much-touted ₹800 crore work on reinforcing stormwater drains, which was expected to be completed before this monsoon, will now be completed by December. Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George on Sunday attributed the delay to the time taken to get all approvals under ‘due process’.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had tendered 408 works to construct reinforced cement concrete (RCC) drains of 192 km at a cost of ₹800 crore after the July 2016 floods. On Sunday, BBMP officials admitted that work started as late as May.

Mr. George announced that an additional ₹300 crore proposal would be placed before the cabinet on Monday. Once these works are completed, citizens would not have to worry about the aftermath of rains. Currently, tenders for 70 works for flood damage correction have been approved under the Chief Minister’s grant. This includes for repair and construction of drains in areas, which suffered the brunt of rains this year, he said.

On August 5, a review by Mr. George revealed that only 54.66% of the works had begun and just 5.3% had been completed.

The BBMP has submitted a ₹2 crore proposal to get robot multi-purpose excavators for desilting and cleaning of drains. “With the use of such machines, we will be able to complete desilting in vast stretches quickly,” said Mr. Prasad.

When asked why work on SWDs was not completed on time, Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George retorted that it needed a lot of approvals from various departments. “When we get clearances quickly, you allege kickbacks. When we follow due process, you question the delay,” he replied to mediapersons. “It has taken time to get the DPR ready, call tenders, present it to the cabinet and so on. For this reason, work could start as late as May,” said Mr. George.

THE HINDU