more-in Claiming that the storm-water drains in Bengaluru were unable to bear the load of heavy rains lashing the city since the last two months, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the state government will be developing the entire 850-km of the SWD network. Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Sunday, Mr. Siddaramaiah blamed the previous Governments of failure to development the storm water drain network. The leaders of the Opposition parties, who were at the helm of affairs before his Government took over, had neither cleared the encroachment of the drains nor increase their capacity by removing the silt and build a retaining wall, he said. He said he had already sanctioned ?800 crore for development of 350-km of storm water drain network in Bengaluru. The development of remaining 500-km of the storm water drains will be taken up next year, he said and added that these works would help prevent the rain related mishaps. Mr. Siddaramaiah said he has been living in Bengaluru since 1983 and he had never witnessed so much rains. “During the last 60 days, it has rained on 46 days. And it was not ordinary rain. On most days, it rained heavily. The drains in Bengaluru do not have the capacity to withstand so much rain,” he said. While a couple and a priest, whose body had been recovered, had died in the rain, the Chief Minister said he had asked the officials to release compensation to the family of the mother and daughter, who were washed away in the drain. He accused the Opposition of playing politics with the rains.

Stay updated with all the Bangalore Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.