The meteorological department has forecast that there are possibilities of the monsoon entering the south interior and coastal regions of Karnataka on June 2.
Monsoon entered Kerala on May 29, three days ahead of the usual schedule. Generally, three to four days after the monsoon enters Kerala, the coastal regions of Karnataka receive rain, said A Prasad, a scientist working with the meteorological department, Bengaluru centre.
The monsoon’s usual date of arrival is June 1 in Kerala and June 5 in Karnataka. With Kerala getting an early start, Karnataka will likely follow suit, said Prasad.
Southern parts of coastal and South Interior Karnataka, specifically the districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Ramanagara and Bengaluru, will be the first to welcome the monsoon.
The IMD issued a heavy rainfall warning for these districts on June 2, saying they could receive 7-12 cm of rainfall that day. By June 10, the monsoon will set in over the entire state, it added.
Several Bengaluru roads flooding an hour after the pre-monsoon rainfall has raised concerns if the city can handle the monsoon just a few days away. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), the city’s civic body, has maintained that there were “no major problems”, remaining in complete denial of the hardships caused due to poor public infrastructure.
Bengaluru and several other parts of Karnataka received heavy rain, inundating roads, homes, and shops and throwing normal life out of gear. Residents and motorists shared videos and pictures of rainwater entering homes and vehicles stranded in almost two to three feet of water.
The BBMP budget on an average has been around ₹10,000 crore annually but the quality of work in the city has come under sharp criticism over the years since it has failed to keep up with the rapid and unregulated expansion of Bengaluru.
There are over 9.4 million vehicles in Bengaluru and over 12 million residents in an area of around 800 sqkm. Successive state governments continue to prioritise Bengaluru in terms of expenditure but the results, if any, have been poor and dismal as the city comes to a standstill with just the slightest hint of rain.
During the monsoon session of the state legislature between September 13-24, chief minister Basavaraj Bommai had said an amount of ₹20,060 crore was spent on road-related works in Bengaluru alone over the last five years.
According to the BBMP’s estimates, one kilometre of a two-lane road under Smart City costs anywhere between ₹7.5 to ₹11 crore (including underground ducts), and the same for a tar road is around ₹80 lakh to ₹1.3 crore.
The government has surpassed many of its deadlines to fill these potholes despite the additional money put into the exercise. Bommai, who holds the Bengaluru development portfolio, said only 1,344 km of roads, out of the over 11,200 km, were motorable in the city, admitting to one of the biggest infrastructural challenges.
BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath instructed BBMP officials to speed up the process of pothole filling. “The zonal commissioners and joint commissioners should personally monitor the progress. At least 25 loads of hot mix (18 during the day and seven during the night) should be utilised in a day to speed up the process and fill all the potholes identified so far,” Girinath said.
The BBMP chief also instructed the officials to get rid of unwanted materials from footpaths and public places. “Many agencies such as BWSSB, GAIL, and others dump materials on the roadside, affecting pedestrian movement and traffic. Seize such materials and levy a fine on such contractors,” he said.
Speaking about the civic agency’s monsoon preparedness, Girinath suggested that the officials could keep sandbags ready near the spots prone to floods. “We have identified 27 highly sensitive spots and 45 sensitive spots, which could get flooded. Complete desilting should be ensured in such areas,” he said.
