JOIN USWith record rains lashing the city on Monday night, major low-laying areas of Koramangala were at sixes and sevens.
Water-logged houses, furniture floating in water, vehicles submerged in rain water, overflowing manholes...these were common sights in Koramangala, which is one of the worst-affected places in Bengaluru. Residents of Koramangala 4th block, 6th block and parts of Madiwala, Sony Signal junction, Shantinagar and other areas had a nightmarish experience, coping with rain fury.
“It was close to 4.30 am when water started seeping into my house. Since it was a holiday, it was only by 2.30 in the night that I was planning to hit the bed and it started pouring heavily. As I started to shift all the things from the floor, the level of the water just started to rise and by the time it was 6 am, I thought it was safe to shift to my friend’s room on the first floor,” said a worn out Manas Raj, a Microsoft employee and a resident of Koramangala 4th block.
He lost his newly bought couch, refrigerator and other furniture, thanks to heavy flooding. The water level was as high as 4 feet in this locality and the residents were seen pouring out buckets of water even at 1 pm on Tuesday. More than 300 houses in this locality were flooded. Several trees and compound wall of the Koramangala Club came crashing down.
“It is not the first time that this place has been waterlogged like this. But, the magnitude was certainly large this time,” Raj said as he salvaged whatever he could. But he had no clue what to do to protect things at his home if the rains continue.
His neighbour, T K Chandrashekar, who has been residing in Koramangala since last 40 years, looked tired after pouring out buckets of water, which had collected inside his house. “The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has never considered the grievances of this area and all our complaints have fallen on deaf ears,” said Chandrashekar, after showing around his house and explaining how difficult it was to shift all the things on the floor to top. His damaged car was a clear result of the ‘negligent’ attitude of BBMP and BWSSB.
Speaking of the causes for waterlogging, another resident, Norma D’Souza said, “Every year they asphalt the main road without removing the old tar and it has resulted in road elevation. This has resulted in a small road like ours to sink down and it is enough for a rainfall of this magnitude to cause severe damage.” Not only this, open stormwater drains have led to heavy waterlogging. The breach in the stormwater drain was kept open, leading to waterlogging.
When asked about this, N Manjunath Prasad, commissioner, BBMP said, “The SWD work was commissioned about three months ago and we have been effectively working towards making Bengaluru completely free from this problem.”