Heavy overnight rains on Sunday exposed the chinks in the civic infrastructure again, as familiar scenes of major arterial roads facing flood-like situations repeated on Monday, throwing life out of gear for the second time in a week.
This time, not just the Outer Ring Road (ORR), Bellandur, but various parts of the city were also flooded, despite the civic authorities having begun the repair of storm-water drains (SWDs) after Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's instructions recently.
The most affected areas were Bellandur, Sarjapur, Whitefield, ORR, J.P. Nagar, BEML Layout, Varthur, Balagere Road, Mekhri Circle, K.R. Puram, Hennur, and Hebbal.
Traffic movement was crippled on ORR starting from Silk Board junction to Bellandur, Marathahalli, HSR Layout, and Sarjapur Road and parts of Central Business District (CBD). Commuters, especially those working in the IT corridor, have been requested to avoid taking ORR by the Bengaluru traffic police.
Even the tech parks were flooded, including Manyata tech park in Hebbal, Ecospace in Bellandur, and Prestige tech park in Marathahalli. Water entered the Wipro office in Sarjapur area, entirely flooding the campus after the nearby lake overflowed.
A man was rescued by local guards after he was stuck on a flooded road near Marathahalli-Silk Board junction road. The guards pulled out the man, who was in an unconscious state and called an ambulance and took him to hospital.
Sai Layout in Hennur was submerged in knee-deep water. The area was similarly flooded last month too, and is among the parts of Bengaluru that are regularly marooned after rains.
Rainbow Drive, a layout on Sarjapur Road, has been flooded since the last month and many residents have been stuck there. K.P. Singh, a resident, said that after Monday's overnight rain, about five feet of water was present at the entrance. Firefighters continue to evacuate residents from the flooded layout.
Rains also wreaked havoc in the slums near Munekolalu and Bellandur. Over 1,500 families were affected, according to local activists.
Many citizens took to social media to complain about flooding and put up videos and photos of the same.
The Bellandur, the Hallenayakanahalli, and the Varthur lakes breached their boundaries again on Monday.
Many major roads were also flooded, including Mysuru Road, Bannerghatta Road, according to the traffic police.
Meanwhile, responding to the repeated flooding in the IT corridor, C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Minister for Higher Education, IT/BT and Science and Technology, said that the government is monitoring the situation and working with the industries to find a solution.
"Recent rains in Bengaluru have been extraordinary. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai-led government is actively monitoring the issue and working hard to resolve it as soon as possible. A thriving city that has been continually growing for decades is bound to face certain infrastructure issues,” he said.
“Our government has been closely collaborating with the industry. We are doing it now too. I have initiated a meeting and will talk with industry leaders and corporate executives soon. We will work together to find a solution. We have organised a meeting with all stakeholders, including the industry, and we are committed to resolving the issues," Dr. Narayan added.
Flood inside Vidhana Soudha
The Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power in the State, was also flooded. Rainwater entered the basement of the soudha’s canteen and officials immediately cleaned the rainwater.
On Sunday night, the roads in front of the building were flooded with least two feet of rain water, leading to slow-moving traffic on the stretch.
(Inputs by: Leesha K. Nair)
