It was pouring cats and dogs, Jince thought of parking his bike into the porch and hit the sack. Suddenly, he awoke to the sound of his phone screeching into his ears and as he slid out of his bed he landed in a pool of water about a feet deep. He wasn’t dreaming was he! No. It was his all familiar environment sunk in water.
Jince lives in Ejipura — one of the most centrally located and also one of the places easily struck by the woes of rainy season. Though Ejipura is located right beside Koramangala, one among the poshest places in the City, the place is not free of its share of civic problems. Official apathy has struck this part as well. The delayed implementation of infrastructural projects and the tampered BBMP secondary laws on constructions has resulted in chaos during  rainy season in this part. The hardest hit is the drain at Koramangala valley and the surrounding areas. The drain which passes through Ejipura, Koramangala, National games village and Ashwini layout has been the perennial cause of flooding in the area.
During the pre-monsoon showers in the month of April, severe flooding takes place and often life threatening situations arise with the KEB not cutting off power despite resident’s requests. The retaining walls along the drain is built in a haphazard manner and is broken at places where encroachments are in full swing.
One of the most significant structures consist of a series of pillars that have been built along the drain when it passes through National Games Village (NGV). The intention of the KHB was to build a parking space beside the NGV and as a result the pillars block the smooth flow of water and thereby flood the nearby areas. During rains, water gushes down the drain and forces itself through the sewage system and storms through the outlets in the toilets of residents living close by. John, a middle-aged gentleman living on the ninth cross Egipura complains that if it was rainwater there was some respite but since it is a mix of sewage, it is terrible.
With children living away from her this elderly resident Thangamani is worried whether she’s bogged down by financial pressure after the  havoc caused by the rains. Gokulanathan her neighbour the elite living around get preferential treatment. “The more up market areas are spared the hassle of having to clean up sewage gushing into their toilets, porches and houses but people like us end up cleaning it all night through,” rues Gokulanathan.  The problem of flooding along the Koramangala drain is of recent origin. A huge tank bed  called Koramangala tank used to be where the present National Games Village stands. There were enough feelers provided to the government by environmentalists and bird watchers as the former lake bed was a stopover for certain species of birds during migration. The tank bed has been piled and the lake died a natural death.
Koramangala valley is a huge 11 km drain channel that carries sewage water from the City to  Bellandur lake. If those at the top dream of the City becoming a mini Singapore, they surely need to slip out of their comfort zone and get down to grassroots.