1 lakh manholes to be desilted in B'lore to avoid inundation

Bangalore, May 18 (UNI) With the weather office predicting monsoon to set in by the first week of June, the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board has embarked on a mammoth task of desilting one lakh manholes in this metropolis to avoid recurrence of the harrowing experience undergone during the last monsoon due to inundation of several low-lying areas.

Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy had instructed the Board to take all necessary steps to clear clogged drains to facilitate free flow of water into storm drains and prevent inundation of low-lying areas.

''In view of the impending monsoon, the BWSSB has decided to launch a massive cleaning drive from May 22 for ten days of the 4,000 km long drainage system,'' BWSSB Chairman N C Muniyappa said in a release here today.

He said hundreds of workers from the BWSSB's 64 service centres in the city would be engaged in the desilting work using 25 jetting machines. The silt collected would be carried in designated vehicles and dumped away from the city to ensure that the citizens were not harmed in any way, he added.

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