Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai assured distressed residents of speedy action to solve infrastructural issues related to the downpour in the city, which accounts for about a third of India’s software exports of $170 billion, even as many feared a repeat of the flash floods as the state capital reeled from heavy rainfall again on Tuesday night.
Bengaluru, the chief minister said, has witnessed unprecedented rain not seen in the past 90 years, and the northeast tech hub of Mahadevapura – a small area which faced the brunt of the waterlogging – faced more issues as its 69 water tanks were overflowing.
Encroachment of outlet channels and the presence of tech companies in low-lying areas have added to the problem, he told the media, adding that only two out of the eight BBMP zones had been affected.
State IT/BT minister CN Ashwath Narayan – who said earlier in the day that the government would work with the industry to find a solution to the waterlogging – called for a meeting with technology companies at Vidhana Soudha – the state legislature – on Wednesday evening. Top government officials, including from the BBMP, are expected to attend the meeting.
The Outer Ring Road (ORR) and other peripheral areas, where most startups are located, have continued to see rapid expansion. As a result, they are facing challenges including traffic and flooding, said Prashanth Prakash, chairman of the state’s Startup Vision Group.
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“The thriving startup ecosystem can help support strategies to create a climate-resilient Bengaluru rooted in the principles of sustainable long-term development. The design interventions undertaken for the citizens waterway project for the drains running through central Bengaluru are worth emulating for the peripheral parts of the city that are most affected,” Prakash told ET.
Former
director TV Mohandas Pai blamed the government, officials, and MLAs for encroachments choking the drainage system. “You need to solve the drainage problem in the IT corridor and flooded areas. This has to be done on a war footing,” he said.
Widespread impact
Several people moved to the safety of hotel rooms as homes were inundated with water from overnight showers. Posh villas and luxury flats in Yemalur, Bellandur, Sarjapur Road, Whitefield and Munekolala, all addresses of big tech firms or startups, were badly hit. Flipkart, Myntra, PhonePe, Vedantu and a host of others have their headquarters in this region.
Many startup founders saw homes being flooded and sought help to rescue their families. Gated communities, including Epsilon in Marathahalli, Adarsh Palm Retreat in Bellandur, and DivyaSree 77 in Yemalur, which were heavily affected by waterlogging, are home to some of the most prominent names in the Indian startup ecosystem.
Sequoia Capital India managing director Ishaan Mittal tweeted about an evacuation drive of 300 families at his apartment society in Yemalur, as basements continued to be waterlogged.
Unacademy co-founder Gaurav Munjal tweeted a video about his evacuation on a tractor, “Family and my pet Albus have been evacuated on a tractor from our society that’s now submerged. Things are bad.”
Jupiter App founder Jitendra Gupta said people moved away from Mumbai 10 years ago because of rising cost of living and started setting up headquarters in Bengaluru or Pune. “Today, there is no advantage that Bengaluru brings, since the cost of living is rising and the civic infrastructure is crumbling…This is just the tipping point.”
Kalaari Capital founder Vani Kola tweeted about a ‘futile attempt’ to reach the airport, eventually giving up three hours later.
There was heightened urgency at the government level to get the tech hub back on track as Bengaluru is home to about 5,500 IT and IT-enabled Services firms, and global capability centres.
Work from home, but no power
The Outer Ring Road Companies Association said it had asked member companies to urge their employees to work from home so that emergency personnel could reach areas that need help. Many startups also did the same, while Walmart-owned ecommerce firm Flipkart asked employees to work from home for the rest of the week.
IT services provider
said it had advised employees to work from home on Tuesday. “Business Continuity Plans have been invoked and there has been no disruption to business. We are closely monitoring the situation,” it said in a statement.
IT industry body Nasscom said it was monitoring the situation in Bengaluru and was in touch with the state government.
“In the wake of the ongoing situation, companies are prioritizing employee safety while at the same time business continuity measures are put in place to ensure minimal business disruptions,” Nasscom vice president KS Viswanathan said in a statement.
Edtech company upGrad’s chief executive Arjun Mohan said entry level associates have been the most hit since they live in buildings with no power backup.
Former Congress social media head, actor Divya Spandana (Ramya), said she would vote for a government that would clamp down on illegal construction in Bengaluru.
BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said the rainfall since August 30 had been five times the normal, but the flooding was limited to only 5-6 square kilometres out of the 800 sq km area of the city. The city’s civic body, he said, has deployed 20 boats and an equal number of pumps to evacuate and flush out the water.
