The statements by Karnataka Prime Minister Basavaraj Bommai about the flood crisis in Bengaluru are both correct and misleading. He is right in saying that “all the tanks are full and overflowing, some have broken and there have been continuous rains, every day it rains”.
But there is also a fallacy in the above excuse, because not only is the type of rain received in Bengaluru on Sunday and Monday set to become more common with climate change, parts of India’s IT capital go under water as well. regular rainfall, rainwater discharges overflow with only 5-10 cm of it.
In other words, the general cause of people’s right to misery is none other than Nature but an extremely poor government, where sustained hydrological mismanagement has now drowned hovels and mansions alike.
As for Bommai blaming previous Congressional governments’ mismanagement or DK Shivakumar taunting the BJP for building poor infrastructure in a world-class city and destroying its brand image, this inflicts further suffering on the suffering citizen. He knows that the work of making his home safer must be done by multiple pantries, just as a multiplicity rather than a singularity of these has made it dangerous in the first place.
From upgrading rainwater discharges to regular lake misalignments to more hydrologically sustainable building constructions, Bengaluru has no shortage of flood mitigation paths. The necessary resources can also be mobilized. But for this the political leadership must lead a synergy of administrative and public will, to work together for change.
A look at Pakistan should tell us that the rains can get much worse. The question is whether we can guide them better.
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