[Raghu M]

The point that I don't understand is, why do people venture out when they know it's so bad. For emergency it's fine but even if it is urgent you need to stay home. Also, this is hardly surprising. First you encroach all lakes and develop them into concrete jungles, next we all think we paid taxes but the govt. is not able to provide proper infrastructure. To put it simply - there is no solution to this problem. Nature will reclaim what it lost. Either you live with it or get to safer places. Feeling bad about the infrastructure will take you nowhere. It's also on the MNCs - just stop expanding in cities like Bengalure, use some common sense. There is no infrastructure that can support huge workforces anymore. The city had exploded around a decade ago.

[sameer sultan]

TOI Bengaluru tweets an unfortunate death of an 18 year old girl in Whitefield when she came in contact with an electric after her scooty fell down. Sad.

https://twitter.com/toibengaluru/sta...nP5msWBx92aCzQ

The administration is clueless. The fury of nature has defeated them time and again. In the earlier posts I have read people spending 6 - 8 hours on the roads just to do a few kilometres.

When the COVID Lockdowns were implemented by the Govt. everyone stayed home/worked from home/studied from home. Why can’t we as individuals decide to voluntarily stay home after experiencing overnight heavy rains, we are sure to experience waterlogging/flooding the next day as the infra is just not there to cope with this, instead of stepping out and spending many hours on the roads putting to risk our lives and cars/2 wheelers.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

Take a look at the topography map of the EC-1 and EC-2 area below. White/Red is highest elevation and blue is lowest elevation, green being intermediary.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Here is a scan image of a long ago news article showing what used to be lakes and what are now layouts.

+1. I remember reading a similar article more than a decade ago. Since then I've always advised friends who are buying flats to check the elevation and also look if the property lies on/in the path of a catchment area.

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

I find it unbelievable that such factors were not considered by the authorities when given for development.

Those are the exact factors they take in to account.

The realty reality is that several large "developments" will be along or in such catchment areas simply because those are the only large tracts of land available somewhat within city limits and the builders have long since figured out how to "legally encroach" on these areas with government/BBMP official help.

Who suffers? The end buyers who pay crores, taking loans that will pretty much require them to work for the next 20 years in IT parks (also built on catchment areas) and then need tractors to exit/enter their gated enclaves.

Originally Posted by Raghu M

It's also on the MNCs - just stop expanding in cities like Bengalure, use some common sense. There is no infrastructure that can support huge workforces anymore.

You're looking at it from the point of view of an employee who would like some semblance of quality of life and commute. From an MNC point of view, the city has still so much to offer- there is a huge supply of cheap engineers in one city, who are still willing to come in to office and work no matter how bad the commute gets.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

The point that I don't understand is, why do people venture out when they know it's so bad. For emergency it's fine but even if it is urgent you need to stay home.

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Why can’t we as individuals decide to voluntarily stay home after experiencing overnight heavy rains, we are sure to experience waterlogging/flooding the next day as the infra is just not there to cope with this, instead of stepping out and spending many hours on the roads putting to risk our lives and cars/2 wheelers.

This is a very valid point. Our office is in the ORR belt and although we are asked to be in the office 3 days a week, it is not strictly enforced. These being exceptional times, even the top managers are not coming to the office and nobody bothers where you are working from. But there are still some smart alecs who are booking company cabs and posting messages early morning on how they made it to the office in record time, etc

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

A satirical take of the situation in Bangalore. Takeshi Castle inspired.

Needs a minor correction. Please read it as a satirical take on the situation in South East Bangalore which only has IT parks and apartments for the staff there. Bangalore does not mean the IT Parks only. Parts of 'old Bangalore' (Malleshwaram, Sadashiva Nagar, Basavanagudi, Jaya Nagar) are all still going strong. No major flooding there. For the simple reason they were all planned quite well. Where as in the South Eastern parts of Bangalore (ORR, Sarjapura road etc.) greed of the real estate barons and the callousness/short sightedness of the buyers led to the current situation. There is no point to try to paint a picture that all of Bangalore is a big mess now and is flooded. As it is I see a trend in twitter in which many Bangaloreans clearly saying that their areas have no such problems and even the Ganesh Chaturthi festival celebrations are going on with great gusto. Old-timers in Bangalore (the people who were here before the IT boom) are also now taking a stance that the problem is only in the areas which developed during the IT boom, and there is no point in blaming every one in Bangalore for this.

Originally Posted by fordday

This is also the place opposite the 'famous' Rainbow Drive layout.

YouTube has a funny way of suggesting videos. Please watch the video

Rainbow Drive: Sustainable Urban Living in Bengaluru

.

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

I like how you're giving BDA the benefit of doubt , but no, it has nothing to do with better planning. It is purely geography.

It could also be that BDA (or KEONICS - who developed Electronics City in 1970s-80s) studied the topography and developed it? If you notice many of the government developed layouts have no problems such as flooding. It is only privately develped (!?) layouts with main focus on cashing on the IT boom which have these kind of problems.

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

The excess rain water in Bangalore and environs flows through a series of gravity tanks and channels which are part of the drainage system

Which also means that the city planners did knew the topography and also planned the city accordingly. The rot mainly started with the arrival of IT industry, which kind of disrupted the planned growth.

On the other side, Eejipura and ST Bed area were low lying storage tanks. ST Bed means Sarjapura Tank Bed. Koramangala was getting developed but was a swamp earlier.

ST Bed means Srinivagilu Tank Bed? (or Sarjapura Tank bed?). Because Sarjapura is actually around 20-22kms away from Ejipura. Srinivagilu -between Ejipura & the HAL Airport- was a tank earlier. It was dried up and now the whole place have lots of apartments and office buildings.

Originally Posted by sameer sultan

Why can’t we as individuals decide to voluntarily stay home after experiencing overnight heavy rains, we are sure to experience waterlogging/flooding the next day as the infra is just not there to cope with this, instead of stepping out and spending many hours on the roads putting to risk our lives and cars/2 wheelers.

Depends on the work profile of the people. All said and done there are still IT companies who insist on people coming to office and work. Some companies take a stance that management staff should work out of office where as the hardcore techies can login from any where. IT industry even though said to be glamarous also work on fear psycosis. Every one is worried on job safety.

Originally Posted by am1m

Since then I've always advised friends who are buying flats to check the elevation and also look if the property lies on/in the path of a catchment area.

As some one posted in Twitter. If a Bangalore apartment starts with a name which has "Lake" in it (Lake View, Lake Valley) avoid it as 99% it means that the apartment sits on a dried up lake which can fill up any time. I know many local Kannadigas who are willing to pay extra to buy land in KHB or other Govt. body layouts. Such layouts never face these kind of problems. Paper work would be correct, roads and sewage lines would be there as promised, and proper elevation would be there.

[krishnakumar]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

We have incredible intelligence and talent in India - geographers, scientists, geologists, engineers and all.

But sadly all the education is negated because of sheer greed on the part of our administration, bureaucracy, civic bodies and politicians.

Truer words cannot be spoken.

Bangalore has the luxury of expanding in all 4 directions unlike some other cities like Mumbai. We could have very well planned the growth of the city by preserving these catchment areas. But that's tough job. As am1m pointed out, the developers find out ways to encroach these areas and as long as the officials are well fed in this arrangement, "who cares?".

Originally Posted by am1m

+1. I remember reading a similar article more than a decade ago. Since then I've always advised friends who are buying flats to check the elevation and also look if the property lies on/in the path of a catchment area.


Who suffers? The end buyers who pay crores, taking loans that will pretty much require them to work for the next 20 years in IT parks (also built on catchment areas) and then need tractors to exit/enter their gated enclaves.

This is exactly the reason why I got into the whole topography thing. Geography was my favourite subject in school and I study maps for fun. When time came for us to look for apartments (and thankfully coinciding with the current flooding situation), the first thing I did was to search for topography maps.

Anyone looking to buy a property now in Bangalore should STRONGLY consider researching about the locality and its geography a lot before going ahead.

I came across this useful website that details encroachment on Rajakaluve (or natural drainage) in Bangalore -> https://www.rajakaluve.org/

[am1m]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Parts of 'old Bangalore' (Malleshwaram, Sadashiva Nagar, Basavanagudi, Jaya Nagar) are all still going strong.

And are homes in any of these areas realistically affordable to a recent resident to the city?

There is no flooding in my area either, but that is pure luck, not any great planning on my part when we built decades ago. And perhaps those areas you mention were great even 30 years ago, but I quite clearly remember some areas of old Bangalore where I grew up 40 years ago that were in pretty bad shape. In fact I would say that the IT industry has brought in more revenues that have improved the city as a whole. I remember Indiranagar had overflowing dustbins that weren't cleared for days at every corner. The city just didn't have money back then to maintain everything.

I'm sure that wasn't your intent, but please let's not take this thread into a "old Bangalore" vs "IT/new/economic migrant" thing. The more recent residents of the city are as much victims as the rest of the city. The only places where they can realistically expect buy a home are these new areas. And it's the builders and government who should shoulder most of the blame for sanctioning/encroaching these constructions.

[mvadg]

I can predict one more thing:

A lot of flood damaged cars will be coming to the used car market soon. Again, expect to find rants against the authorities for not flagging these cars and taking action against the insurance companies not properly marking them before "scrapping" them.

https://www.dailypioneer.com/2022/st...in-punjab.html

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Old-timers in Bangalore (the people who were here before the IT boom) are also now taking a stance that the problem is only in the areas which developed during the IT boom, and there is no point in blaming every one in Bangalore for this.

The property taxes paid by the those in the "IT boom areas" went into developing roads and drainage for the "old timers". A glance at the bbmp's revenues and expenditures by ward clearly shows that.

Wonder who will pay for the roads and drains in the "IT boom areas" now.

[anjan_c2007]

The best and surest remedy for the Bengaluru roads, is transport on a tractor.

UpGrad an ed tech unicorn's CEO Mr Arjun Mohan used a tractor to reach his office. Mr Arjun Mohan shared a video of him going to work on a tractor amid heavy rain in Bengaluru. "I had to walk 7km, take a tractor to cross waist deep water and hitch rides from...bikers," Mohan wrote on LinkedIn. He also clarified that he went to work because there was no power at his residence.

https://www.news9live.com/state/karn...ngaluru-194059

[UPS_Guru]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

The point that I don't understand is, why do people venture out when they know it's so bad. For emergency it's fine but even if it is urgent you need to stay home...

Employees were asked to report to work (mandatorily in SEZs) and some managers still prefer presence over productivity. Then, we have employees who want to impress their way up!

Originally Posted by Raghu M

...It's also on the MNCs - just stop expanding in cities like Bengaluru, use some common sense...

Many companies that have tried setting up offices in tier 2 cities, but getting top talent is extremely difficult.

[arin_12]

Few schools may have declared holidays, kids from my apartment go to school as usual. Nothing major in this part of city. The 50+ acre Kaggadasapura lake is still half filled inspite of having max rain Sunday night. Even the bottle neck near Purva which used to get flooded easily is surprisingly good.

Originally Posted by thirumalkumaran

Schools have been declared holiday in the CV Raman nagar and Kaggadasapura regions, due to water logging. Family is together after the pandemic on a working day!

Will not surprise. Believe me this part of the area is attached to Bellandur Lake catchment area. Many unauthorised colonies have settled over the year.
Parking place can be also filled with water if the pump is not maintained properly.

Originally Posted by charanreddy

Here is another video circulating regarding the situation. This is in Yamalur near kadubeesanahalli. It pains to see a Lexus and a Bentley submerged and what is assume is pretty heavy water damage. On a lighter note, it’s time to buy a tractor.. the sure shot way of travelling in Bangalore come what may..

https://Youtu.be/Va0DTeFBdPA

Some people will crib on Govt, some people will look for opportunity. EOD we citizens will suffer. Citizens must be thoughtful on their actions. Many may not believe that people will dump any thing in vacant place or in the lake. I have even seen a bike being dumped in a lake. Debris, Chicken Waste, Old Beds, expired foods, packaging materials are common though.

Techpark in this area has filled the natural ground with total concrete and put their employees in a matchbox. WhiteField EPIP offices Or some Electronic City office should be a case study for these Techpark builders. What to build what not to !

[vinodh_eee]

Originally Posted by anandhsub

OT: Which Block in PTP if you dont mind me asking?

I work in Valence block and we got notice the power is still shut down for the entire block due to water logging and we have to do WFH.

I went there to drop my wife. She is in Excelsior building. The general notification for her office is to WFH. But then, she had to take an exception.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

ST Bed means Srinivagilu Tank Bed? (or Sarjapura Tank bed?). Because Sarjapura is actually around 20-22kms away from Ejipura. Srinivagilu -between Ejipura & the HAL Airport- was a tank earlier. It was dried up and now the whole place have lots of apartments and office buildings.

I do apologise. It is indeed Srinivagilu Tank Bed and not Sarjapura Tank Bed. Thanks for pointing out the correct name.

[vinodvayyat]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

YouTube has a funny way of suggesting videos. Please watch the video -Removed the video about Rainbow Drive [/url].

Apparently, Rainbow Drive is a model community - they are completely sustainable with daily usage water (have implemented full fledged RWH). Ironically, they are bearing the brunt of what can be called as a collective failure of communities around and the authorities. I myself had got an opportunity to attend waste recycling/RWH meetings conducted by them for other RWAs (though I hadn't attended it).

Following is a good article about what is going wrong in Rainbow Drive - same is true for many other areas of the city.
https://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/...ourhoods-88599

Originally Posted by krishnakumar

I came across this useful website that details encroachment on Rajakaluve (or natural drainage) in Bangalore -> https://www.rajakaluve.org/

The topographic map of Bengaluru will be even more interesting - https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/lpj1/Bengaluru/