Heavy rain dents Brand Bengaluru image as waterlogging plays spoilsport again | Bangalore News

Commuters were caught unawares in the midst of waterlogging and traffic jams. The Panathur railway underpass, known for its infamous traffic, was choked with vehicles since early in the morning. Vehicles lined up on the road for nearly 3km. A stretch which would usually take 15-20 minutes for vehicles to cross in normal traffic took more than an hour due to waterlogging under the railway bridge.

In addition, people taking the Croma Service Road were also diverted to Panathur Road due to the water stagnation on the service road.

Sangappa Desai, a resident of Balagere, pinned the blame on the callous attitude of the authorities for the back-to-back traffic snarls. “The authorities visit here, take stock, and do nothing. From Panathur to Varthur the drainage system is half-built. There is no connectivity to the stormwater drain for the rainwater to pass. This is what leads to water-logging every monsoon. I also appeal to the government to start storing rainwater in Bellandur and Varthur lakes; 95% of the desilting is complete. Most of the apartments depend on tanker water now, because we don’t have access to Cauvery water,” Desai pointed out.

Meanwhile, commuters were diverted to Outer Ring Road (ORR) on Tuesday after waterlogging was reported behind Sakra Hospital Hospital. An advisory by the traffic police has requested motorists coming from Yamluru Kodi to go towards Bellandur to connect to ORR.

The downpour spelt trouble in many parts of Bengaluru and scripted the same old story of waterlogging, especially in East Bengaluru. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

Sonali Singh, a techie based in Bellandur, attacked the government for its poor planning and decision-making.

“It was a terrible morning on Tuesday with water stagnating in the Bellandur region. The road near Sakra World Hospital used to be a wetland and a low-lying area. Now with buildings constructed on the wetlands, there is no place for the water to flow. This leads to waterlogging even if it means moderate rainfall. Yesterday, the area was marooned with four feet of water which had still not receded until morning. Hence I had to take a detour to my workplace which took me 1 hour and 40 minutes,” she said.

As of 11.30 pm on Monday, Bellandur, Varthur, and Marathahalli recorded 45 mm, 46 mm and 58 mm of rainfall respectively.

Despite Deputy CM Shivakumar, BBMP officials and other government representatives taking stock of monsoon preparedness, it was the same old story of waterlogging in East Bengaluru.

Half-built drainage system, SWD encroachment, unauthorised buildings on wetlands among other infrastructure lapses brought East Bengaluru to its knees after waterlogging was reported in Bellandur, Panathur, Marathahalli and the surrounding areas.

On Monday night, commuters near Bellandur Kodi were stranded in the midst of floodwater. With the assistance of a tractor, a traffic police inspector and his team rescued all commuters and pedestrians to help them wade through the waterlogged stretch. Two cars were also submerged in Bellandur on the Kariyammana Agrahara Road.

Karthika Avineni who took to X to share his ordeal due to Monday rainfall said, “I’m a victim of Bengaluru Rains today (Monday). Was heading back home from the office at 11:30 pm. Exactly on Marathahalli bridge towards HAL, there’s a huge pothole. I was at 40 km speed, my front left tyre hit the pothole and it immediately got punctured. It was raining heavily. It took me around more than an hour for the rain to subside and I was able to change the tyre with the spare one. Special thanks to a TT driver who helped me for setting up the jack.Thanks for the great infrastructure @BBMPCOMM @CMofKarnataka ! Please keep up the great job.”