As water recedes, Bengaluru residents stare at losses running into lakhs

As floodwaters recede, residents in affected areas are left with the onerous task of cleaning, repairing their houses and replacing the damaged goods.

At Rainbow Drive Layout along Sarjapur Road, evacuees from nearly 25 houses are yet to assess the damage. It was only a week ago that they had got their houses cleaned up on account of a previous flood.

Resident Sujith Paramba, a working professional, said, “When water gushed in, my fridge fell down. The sofa, cupboards and bedroom was completely under water. My car is also damaged. Losses will be huge.”

“On Sunday midnight, water rose up to the waist level within 15 to 20 minutes. We didn’t have time to react or move our materials,” another resident said.

His sofa, kitchen cabinets and music system are damaged beyond repair, along with his car. “More than physical damage, it is the stress. Rain has always been a pleasant memory, but now I start getting palpitations every time I see clouded skies. My elderly parents get stressed out about relocation.” He is staying at his cousin’s house now and says he would need at least two weeks to move back home.

Besides the damage to their houses, residents would also have to pay for the damage to the common facilities. The drains inside the layout are flooded, roads are damaged, clubhouse is flooded, and the compound wall fallen.

At Epsilon Layout in Yemalur, association Secretary Jei Narayanan says damage would be in the range of Rs 2 to Rs 6 lakh for each family, not counting the damage to cars. Each house was flooded with 1 to 3 ft of water, and some of the layout roads had up to 5 ft of water.

“I had shifted some materials to the first floor, so my losses are relatively low, but yet it would come to Rs 2 lakh. Many others have lost their appliances and furniture. We would also have to contribute to clean up the common facilities and to set the power back up,” Narayanan said.

At Epsilon villas in Yemalur, where CEOs of many top companies live, losses would be in the range of Rs 200-300 crore, said management committee member Anees Ahmed.

“The houses here still are flooded, so residents can’t go in. Floor, furniture, appliances and kitchens have all been damaged. It would take at least two to three months for residents to repair everything and move back in.”

Wipro Chairman Rishad Premji and Britannia Industries MD Varun Berry are among the residents here.

“Some residents are considering moving out. This would affect the city itself as they employ lakhs of people,” says Ahmed, who is the president of Mistral Solutions.

'Govt officials had to be bribed for relief work’

A resident of one of the layouts said, on condition of anonymity, that they had to bribe government officials, especially those from the fire department, for relief work.

In all, residents are suffering high costs, but their larger demand is for a permanent solution to frequent flooding.