• Rampant encroachments of Raja Kaluve and Dewan Poornaiah Canal lead to flooding
• Residents living in a 200-acre area affected; many unable to come out of their houses

By S.T. Ravikumar

Mysore/Mysuru: Residents living in the surroundings of Bogadi on the city outskirts are having a harrowing time with several lakes breaching and water entering their properties. There are many private layouts and farmhouses and families residing in them are surrounded by water and many have no opportunity to move out of their homes.

It is a nightmarish experience whenever it rains heavily and the main cause for the lake breaching and overflowing is the encroachment of Raja Kaluve (a natural or man-made stream that connects lakes) and the historic Dewan Poornaiah Canal.

Water overflowed on the Bogadi Signal Circle last evening too due to rain and the traffic on the busy road had to wade through water to reach their destinations. Among the worst hit places are K. Hemmanahalli, Anandnagar and Arpithanagar near Parasayyanahundi.

Last year too, many areas of Anandnagar and roads including Bogadi Signal Circle and the road towards the Ring Road were flooded as the boundary wall (lake bund) of Mariyappana Kere (popular as Bogadi Lake) off the Ring Road breached at two places.

Encroachments galore

The Raja Kaluve and the Poornaiah Canal have been encroached upon at various places, blocking the natural flow of water from one waterbody to the other.

As a result, residential areas get flooded. Apart from flooding the residential areas, the rains over the last two or three days have flooded a poultry farm killing over 70 birds.

The situation is so bad that there are many elderly defence personnel and senior citizens residing in these areas away from the urban jungle spending their retired life peacefully and even they cannot move out of their houses due to flooding.

The residential properties are located at K. Hemmanahalli between Belawadi Lake and Gaddige Road. Ideally, the rainwater must flow from Belawadi Lake to the 26-acre Sahukarhundi Lake and Huyilalu Lake.

The affected areas include Huyilalu, Manikyapura, Sahukarhundi, K. Hemmanahalli, Mooganahundi and the areas in the middle of Belawadi Lake and Gaddige Road. Over 200 acres of land are affected and every year the problem repeats due to heavy rains.

Many lakes in the vicinity

As the Raja Kaluve and the Poornaiah Canal are encroached upon at various places, the natural water flow is obstructed and this results in flooding. There is a series of lakes in the surroundings like Belawadi Lake, Sahukarhundi Lake, Huyilalu Lake (Bommanahalli Lake), Doddakere, Chikkakere, Hosakere and Mooganahundi Lake on the Bogadi-Gaddige Road.

All these lakes are interlinked by Raja Kaluves and their encroachments and blockage by buildings prevent the natural water flow. All these Lakes carry water to the Sharadadevinagar Lake. As the natural water lines are broken, the overflowing water flows in full force, entering residential pockets and farmhouses.

Rainwater and the water overflowing from the Lakes blocked the storm-water ducts by the side of the Ring Road from Bogadi to Sharadadevinagar. As a result, traffic was held up for hours together on the morning of Aug. 27 (yesterday).

Even the Mariyappana Kere, a historic Lake near Bogadi had many Raja Kaluves and as such, water automatically flowed into the Lingambudhi Lake. Now with the development, widespread constructions, layouts and multi-storeyed buildings have come up on the Raja Kaluves, blocking the natural flow of water.

Corrective measures

After the rain subsided last evening, Bogadi Town Panchayat Chief Officer C. Shyam Sundar, Health Inspector Puneeth and Junior Engineer Harsha and team initiated the clearing of the waterlogged areas with an earthmover.

“What we have done yesterday is a temporary measure and it is just to clear the flooding. If it does not rain tonight (Aug. 27) we will go to the areas that have been flooded tomorrow and make temporary arrangements for the residents to at least move out of their houses,” Shyam Sundar told Star of Mysore.

If the Raja Kaluves are not systematically cleared with earthmovers and if the encroachments are not removed, there is a danger of flooding in over 200 acres of land that comes within the residential localities, said residents. “Unless the Town Panchayats and other local panchayats act, our lives are always threatened and the problem worsens with every rain,” said residents.

‘Constitute high-power committee to restore Dewan Poornaiah Canal’

The Dewan Poornaiah Canal is the main feeder canal that brings fresh water to the Kukkarahalli Lake from the Lakes surrounding Bogadi and adjoining areas. Of the original length of 22-km, only 4-km of the Poornaiah Canal remains today (behind SJCE – Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering and near Bogadi Road Bridge), thanks to encroachment and indiscriminate construction.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Bhamy V. Shenoy, Convener of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) said that the Kukkarahalli Lake was built by the Maharajas and the Dewan Poornaiah Canal was constructed to feed fresh water to the Lake from Bommanahalli Lake (Huyilalu Lake).

Thanks to encroachments to build new private layouts, the earth was dug up on a massive scale by earthmovers and the historic Poornaiah Canal was destroyed.

“Unless a high-power and a high-level committee is formed to look into the encroachments of Dewan Poornaiah Canal and systematically clear them — however influential the encroachers are — the Lakes of Mysuru will have no future. The Kukkarahalli Lake is half dead and it will die fully if the destruction continues and if the natural water flow is blocked,” he said.

Former Mysuru Deputy Commissioner T.M. Vijay Bhaskar had tried to clear encroachments and was successful in a way but he was transferred soon. “Whenever there is flooding, officers and elected representatives pose for photos assuring help to the residents. But after rains, they forget all this,” he regretted.