Rainwater filled in damaged road under Hebbal flyover in Bengaluru.
Credit: DH Photo/B K Janardhan
Just a few spells of pre-monsoon showers, and they again expose the sorry state of Bengaluru’s civic preparedness. The city, touted as the IT capital of India, turns into a watery maze every time it rains. Homes are flooded, roads disappear under knee-deep water, and traffic comes to a halt. The only relief the rains offer is from the heat, but that comes at the cost of widespread chaos and property damage. This time also, several parts of the city, including prominent places like Richmond Road, Indiranagar’s Krishna Temple Road, and Anil Kumble Circle on M G Road, were submerged, disrupting daily life. This is not an isolated incident but a recurring annual ordeal. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike claims that necessary flood prevention measures have been taken in 166 of 209 flood-prone areas. But the situation on the ground tells a different story. Meanwhile, the traffic police have identified 180 water-logging zones on major roads.
What makes Bengaluru’s flooding particularly frustrating is that much of it is preventable. Clogged drains, poor debris management, and ill-planned drainage systems reflect sheer administrative apathy. However, the larger issues lie in unchecked concretisation, destruction of natural water flow patterns, and rampant encroachment of lakes and buffer zones. The city’s undulating terrain, once an advantage for natural water drainage, has been disrupted by haphazard construction. Tragically, these mistakes are not confined to older parts of the city but are being replicated in newly developed areas as well. This is not just a matter of administrative oversight, but also a reflection of chronic systemic failure. While some damage is irreversible, mitigation is still possible with the summer offering a critical window for the authorities to desilt drains, clear encroachments and reinforce stormwater channels.
Bengaluru’s flooding is not a natural calamity. It is a human-made disaster born out of neglect, greed and lack of foresight. Even the best-planned global cities face weather-related challenges, but here the misery is largely self-inflicted. It is high time the authorities took concrete steps, looking beyond just patchwork fixes, to address the root causes. Bengaluru’s flooding is a stark reminder that urban development should not come at the cost of sustainability. Beyond Bengaluru, the government must proactively identify flood-prone zones across the state, improve early warning systems, and ensure timely evacuations in vulnerable areas. With climate change amplifying rainfall unpredictability, disaster preparedness should be a year-round priority, and not just a seasonal afterthought. The solutions are clear, but they need political will and public accountability.