Bengaluru rains live | Flooded roads and homes leave citizens adrift, techies on ORR asked to work from home

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow warning, predicting heavy rains in the city till September 9

Torrential overnight rains in Bengaluru yet again bared the flaws in the city’s civic infrastructure, with major arterial roads facing flood-like situations on September 5, throwing life out of gear for the second time in a week.

Traffic movement was crippled on ORR starting from Silk Board junction to Bellandur, Marathahalli, HSR layout and Sarjapura Road, making it impossible for two-wheeler riders and four-wheelers to pass through.

At 8 am on Monday, the highest quantum of rainfall [148.50mm] was recorded at Sampangiramanagar in East Bengaluru, according to the KSNDMC website, and 66.50 mm of rain was recorded in Bengaluru Urban.

Rainwater was more than three feet deep in the railway underbridges at Majestic, Okalipuram and Kasturinagar. The floodgates opened into shopping streets such as Avenue Road, BVK Iyengar Road, KG Road, and Shivajinagar.

Other affected areas due to rain include Whitefield, Gottigere, Bannerghatta Road, Vijayanagar, Rajajinagar, Basaveshwar Nagar, Yeshwantpur, Peenya, Laggere, Nandini Layout, Malleswaram, Seshadripuram, Hebbal, Sanjaynagar, RT Nagar, Nagawara, Hennur, Banaswadi, RR Nagar, Kengeri, Deepanjali Nagar.

Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) has instructed almost a million tech and bank workers employed by various enterprises in the Outer Ring Road (ORR) area to work from home for the whole of this week.

“We have encouraged only 30% of the people to come to offices after the pandemic. Now with this kind of water logging and flooding situation and unbearable traffic snarls, we have asked all employees to work from home for the next five days,’‘ Krishna Kumar, General Manager, at ORRCA told The Hindu.