Bangalore Sweatbox

Times of India, 15 September 2007

Rain spells trouble for Bangalore

BANGALORE: "More spells of rain, and we are done. We fear the worst as lakes are swelling and the city's drains can take no more." That was BBMP commissioner S Subramanya's exasperated cry on Friday evening as flooded Bangalore convulsed in torrential rain.

The BBMP boss's statement reflected the harried citizens' plight. Unrelenting rain for the past three days has unleashed deluge and devastation, bringing the famed IT city to its knees. On the action front, over 5,500 BBMP men have been standing guard at the worst-hit and vulnerable spots. But senior BBMP officials are sure they're waging a losing battle: "A brimming Madivala Lake, and the weak stormwater drains in Nayandahalli and Bhadrappa Layout can do us in."

The Central Silk Board (CSB) Junction, from where Hosur Road takes on the hues of IT corridor, was in sheets of water. Office-goers were stuck in this mess for at least four hours. Vinita S, a software professional who started from home at 7 am, was still negotiating her way at the CSB Junction even at 12 noon.

Cars, buses, bikes -- you name them -- and they were all inching through an inundated Hosur Road, while a breached Madivala Lake arrested traffic in the entire grid. Traffic came to a standstill, and the pile-up continued even as the BBMP men tried draining out water with 30 pumpsets.

The nonstop rain on Thursday night brought alive the nightmare of 2005 floods. Water from the swelling lakes, breached drains and valleys in Bommanhalli, Puttenahalli, Sarakki and Madivala invaded homes. At least six wall-collapse incidents were reported, 35 trees fell on houses and roads in Vyalikaval, Basaveshwaranagar, Bhadrappa Layout and Jayanagar. All this led to hours of gridlock.

For those residing in Bhadrappa Layout, Nayandahalli, Jayanagar, BTM Layout, HSR Layout Sectors VI and VII, Marutinagar, it was a night-long ordeal to empty out the water gushing into their homes. Overflowing drains in Vrishbhavati Valley brought sewage into nearby homes, while apartments complained of waterlogging in the basements.

#    posted by Mark Pritchard @ 5:53 PM