Should the monsoon see a revival and bring heavy rain to the city, there's little to stop neighbourhoods from being flooded this year as the BWSSB still does not have enough jetting machines to clean the underground drainage (UGD) system and ensure it is ready to carry away rain water from road surfaces.
The board expects to receive the 42 machines it had ordered after a high court ruling, only in August and will have to make do with the ones it has to save the city from flash floods this monsoon. Hearing a case related to the death of a BWSSB worker, the high court had, in February, ordered the board and the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board to purchase more jetting machines and stop engaging humans for the task. In response, the BWSSB had filed an affidavit assuring it would procure 48 jetting machines soon, in addition to the 76 already in use.
The water board had called for tenders to procure 30 additional jetting machines last year , but did not receive them. The 42 new machines are being bought from Tata Motors, Pune, at a cost of Rs 6 crore. “The UGD is cleaned regularly, but this becomes more important just before the monsoon. In the absence of an adequate number of jetting machines, the BWSSB is left with only two options- either allow the city to flood or employ humans for the job. Both are not welcome solutions,” says a senior BWSSB officer.