Heavy rainfall brought Bengaluru –India’s IT capital, to a grinding halt for the second time in a week. Local residents complain that a poor drainage system and lack of proper planning and infrastructure have caused massive waterlogging woes, according to First Post.
Locals reportedly struggle to commute as streets in the city’s Yemalur area are severely flooded following heavy and incessant rains in the city.
In Karnataka, many IT employees used tractors to reach their offices in the Yemalur area amid the flooding. “We can’t take so many leaves from the office, our work is getting affected. We’re awaiting tractors to drop us for Rs 50,” a resident told a local news agency.
The country’s IT capital is a series of hills and valleys at 3100 ft above sea level. “80% of the city does not get flooded…but if you live in a valley, chances of flood are high. Those were supposed to be lakes or paths to rivers,” a local professional says.
Concretization, disastrous engineering and unplanned growth have clogged the city’s storm drains, leaving the IT corridor and the city’s 12 million residents at the mercy of civic apathy. IT firms have reported taka 225 crore loss, and the state govt. has shut drinking water supply for 2 days.
Bengaluru is touted as the only city in the world where every single house is “Sea-Facing”. Its transformation from 2002 to 2022 as IT hub was fast:
According to the professional: 1. Stop constructing on wetlands and floodplains 2. Invest in nature based infrastructure than flyovers 3. Make permeable roads & paving material 4. Reimagine cities. 5. Create better drainage systems using small tunnels. 6. Leave green spaces to allow seepage. “Weather is not in our control but urban design is, as water will find its level and direction to flow”, he says.
The city lies is in between Chennai to Mangaluru –in the Deccan Plateau, and is at 3000 feet above sea level. “The good part is rain water will get drained out very fast,” a local resident says.
“Reimagine cities to face climate change challenges so as to accommodate people’s social welfare needs ahead,” says the professional.
Honorary contributors to DesPardes: Ajaz Ahmed, Ammar Jafri, Anwar Abbas, Arif Mirza, Aziz Ahmed, Bawar Tawfik, Dr. Razzak Ladha, G. R. Baloch, Jamil Usman, Jawed Ahmed, Ishaq Saqi, Khalid Sharif, Masroor Ali, Md. Ahmed, Md. Najibullah, Shahbaz Ali, Shahid Nayeem, Syed Hamza Gilani
