More rainfall forecast in Bengaluru; tech, e-commerce industry most affected

Bengaluru: Residents of rain-drenched Bengaluru were set to return to normal after some respite the previous day with the water level in flooded areas slowly decreasing when the forecast for further rain and overcast sky with a drizzle began early Thursday morning.

Residents of flooded neighbourhoods and apartments are attempting to drain water and clear mud from their homes and basements.

Some badly affected areas continued to remain in darkness without power supply and non-availability of drinking water, even as officials maintained that efforts were on to restore supply by repairing the damages.

While waterlogging on roads in most parts of the city is by and large clear, making way for easy movement of vehicles, some stretches along the Outer Ring Road and Marathahalli and nearby areas are said to be still facing some issues with vehicular movement with water still on roads.

Also, potholes continue to haunt the city's motorists, especially two-wheeler riders.

Some residents of flood-hit localities and apartments, who had moved out to safer locations like either relatives or friends' places or hotels are getting back to their homes to assess the damage and to carry out cleaning work.

"With the situation improving slightly, I have come to check my house, and to get it cleaned, but there seems to be a shortage of pumps to remove the remaining water, as they are in good demand now, also labourers to remove sludge. Will have to look out for them now. There is also a power cut. Hope we don't receive more heavy rains," a resident at a locality near Yemalur said.

Another resident in Marathahalli, who lives in an apartment, sharing a similar ordeal said, hope there are no more heavy rains, it's been cloudy and drizzling since morning though.

Generators and power backup equipment of apartments whose basements were submerged in flood waters have all mostly been damaged.

Also, according to officials restoring power supply to apartments whose basements are still waterlogged is not safe.

Owners trying to attend to or getting their vehicles like- cars and bikes- that were either partially or fully under water due to flooding, were a common sight in parts of these areas.

The Meteorological office in Bengaluru in its forecast on Thursday morning for the city for the next 48 hours has said one or two spells of light to moderate rain or thundershowers were very likely.

On Wednesday, technology companies that suffered the brunt of the recent flood due to heavy rains in the city, voiced their complaints before Karnataka IT/BT Minister Dr. C N Ashwath Narayan and urged him to find a solution to the rain-related problems.

At a meeting convened by Narayan to discuss the problems caused by the unprecedented rainfall, the representatives of several IT companies said their primary concern was to bring to the notice of the government the miseries they faced and the losses incurred.

In reply, the Minister assured them that the state government will help find a permanent solution to the infrastructural issues in the Mahadevpura zone, which witnessed water logging, by next year.

"Narayan also sought the cooperation of tech companies to retain the status of 'Bangalore Brand'. A virtual meeting will be conducted every month from now on to resolve the grievances of entrepreneurs," a statement issued by the office of the Minister.

He also said that the government will examine implementing the Electronic City Industrial Township Authority (ELCITA) model of the system that is being put in place in the Electronic City in the Mahadevapura zone as well.

The meeting comes days after torrential rains and flooding affected the tech corridor in the capital city.

Representatives of Goldman Sachs, Infosys, Wells Fargo, Wipro, Mphasis, Intel, TCS, Accenture, Sonata Software, Philips, and Solace were among those who attended the meeting.

E-commerce companies, especially their delivery boys, had a harrowing time supplying products to the customers when certain parts of Bengaluru were under deluge due to two days of heavy rains in parts of the city.

The inundated areas such as parts of Sarjapura, Bellandur, Varthur, Whitefield and Outer Ring Road had become inaccessible due to water logging.

In view of the flood situation, these e-commerce companies suspended their services for some time.

An executive of a leading e-commerce company told PTI they had to suspend services in certain places as it was not possible for anyone to reach there.

"We are waiting for some time to see things settle. Things seem to be improving now in some places," the executive said.

Meanwhile, an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement, "Safety of our associates is our top priority. We are evaluating the situation, and ensuring that our associates do not venture into areas with excessive water logging."

"Cases where customer deliveries have been impacted, we have informed them proactively", the statement read.

The food delivery company Swiggy had also put on hold delivering products in the inundated areas, an executive told PTI.

It told its clients in flood-hit places that they may not be able to reach it and apologised for it.

"Things now seem to be improving. Many areas are becoming dry now and our delivery partners are able to reach there," the executive said.

The city had received heavy rainfall for two days resulting in floods in many areas.

A rain-related death occurred in which a woman died of electrocution.

Meanwhile, the city civic agency, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has started the demolition drive razing encroachment of lakes and stormwater drains interrupting the smooth flow of rainwater.

With PTI inputs