[Bangalore Rains] "Roads full of water, people suffering:" Karnataka High Court directs BBMP to start grievance redressal centres

The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday directed the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to set up ward-wise grievance redressal centres to resolve the problems faced by the public due to the heavy rainfall the city has received this past week. [Vijayan Menon v. Secretary & Anr]..A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice S Vishwajit Shetty lamented the situation in Bengaluru, where roads have been inundated, affecting the daily life of residents in the city."All the drains are full. Roads are full of water. People are suffering. Have you started a complaint redressal centre for this?" the Bench asked counsel appearing for the BBMP..Even as Advocate V Shreenidhi, appearing for the BBMP, assured the Court that officials are working continuously to address the issue, the Bench directed the setting up of ward-wise grievance redressal centres as well.'.The High Court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2015, highlighting the bad condition of roads in Bengaluru. In previous hearings, the Chief Engineer of the BBMP had been directed to be present, and the Court had expressed its distress at the terrible condition of roads in the city.The Court had also pulled up BBMP officials for their inaction despite orders from the Court directing it to fill up potholes on a war-footing.In April this year, a Bench of then Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice SR Krishna Kumar had directed the civic body to complete work in this regard within a period of 36 hours."First you blame traffic, then you blame infrastructure, then the rains, for years together, and other agencies. What is left for you to blame, how many people will you go on passing the buck to? We just want the roads to be repaired and you are not getting the work started..." the Bench had remarked in that hearing.