[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by audioholic

So what's the latest on the Ecospace situation? Has water reduced to traverse through safely or is it still the same? Have to head to office again and thinking of what to do.

Checked on it this morning, 9am. The water levels are less and drivable but there is still some water that you need to cross.

Towards Marathahalli, no issues it is clear.

Towards Silk Board, you will be stopped at start of Kadubeesanahalli flyover and will be warned about the water levels ahead and will let you if you are ready to go up or you can go to service road and turn back under the flyover. Many cars and bikes are passing. Didn’t see any vehicle stalled. So doable, if really needed.

Now that it is partially open, expect long pile up later in the day.

[jkrishnakj]

The WA rounds since evening yesterday is slowly turning into a Us Vs Them (local vs outsider) tones Some really harsh messages like ‘shut your *** and get lost from here’ types of messages.

A classic case of trying to bury the problem and divert the issue.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by hungrygamer

Had a long delayed plan to travel to wayanad -vythri from bangalore-marathahalli this Friday, people who know of this route , can you please share if it's advisable , manageable or absolutely needs to be avoided , I really don't want to postpone this trip so really looking for inputs

I feel this trip is still doable, provided you can get out of Marathahalli safely. It may also be a longer route. Try reaching Kanakapura Road and proceed to Mysore suburbs by Kanakapura-Malavalli-Bannur route. The usual Bangalore-Mysore highway have water logging in Ramanagara area. Once you are at Mysore you can follow the usual route towards Wayanad Dt, Kerala. That is Nanjangud-Muthanga check post-Sulthan Bathery and onwards to Vythiri.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

The WA rounds since evening yesterday is slowly turning into a Us Vs Them (local vs outsider) tones Some really harsh messages like ‘shut your *** and get lost from here’ types of messages.

It take two hands to clap. The tone of many of the WhatsApp champions was every one else Bangalore owed them a living. First there was a propaganda that entire Bangalore is messed up, while that was not true. And the folks who had complaints also did not have any alternate recommendations to make life better. Corruption is a problem; but it does not mean that only politicians & realtors are corrupt. A bribe giver is also at fault, just like the bribe taker.

[AppyS]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

It take two hands to clap. The tone of many of the WhatsApp champions was every one else Bangalore owed them a living. First there was a propaganda that entire Bangalore is messed up, while that was not true. And the folks who had complaints also did not have any alternate recommendations to make life better. Corruption is a problem; but it does not mean that only politicians & realtors are corrupt. A bribe giver is also at fault, just like the bribe taker.

Best solution I feel, is to learn Kannada and gradually assimilate and become more localized yourselves, something I intend to do despite my adult dyslexia(if that is a real thing) and severe attention deficit issues. On bribes though, unless a massive collective outburst and aandolan is done, as the entire system from neta to babus are glove in hand, they just dont budge easily and instead try torturing you by delays or other tactics. Also plus one your point that just ranting without solutions is not going to help anyone.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by balenoed_

Checked on it this morning, 9am. The water levels are less and drivable but there is still some water that you need to cross.

Towards Marathahalli, no issues it is clear.

Thanks. I saw a tweet in the morning by Traffic Police that the Marathahalli direction is clear. Hence took this route to come to office and it was a smooth drive. The return side was still water logged so I need to return via HAL Airport side.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

2. Seriously big time people ( Corporate Heads) suffering like this in inundated homes after having paid their taxes honestly and invested their hard earned tax paid money in their homes and trappings like cars.

Originally Posted by AppyS

The obscure to be made out havens like Epsilon, relatively visible Divyashree 77 degree etc., all have suffered similar fates already despite the richest living there. Just wonder what will save apartment dwellers then ?

Is suffering a relative term? Whether water enters a slum or a villa, the hardship faced by people staying there makes no difference, right? In fact, apartment dwellers are better off in far flung localities.

This brings up a question : Leaving aside the system which is corrupt to core, didn't the "corporate heads" conduct "due diligence checks" before buying villas which are flooded now? Common sense is of course not so common after all.

Nature is a great leveller - it does not care if one is a footpath dweller or a honcho who drives a Lexus. When Titanic is sinking, it does not matter if one is Jack Dawson or Caledon Hockley.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by nagr22

Unfortunately this is not going to happen. People will forget within a week and the same people who suffered will start looking out for their next property to invest.

I lived in HSR Sector 7, in the early years when I first came to this city. I remember in the year 2005 there were massive floods there in Sector 5,6,7. Because owing to this similar kind of Heavy rainfall, the Madiwala Lake overflowed or maybe the great Lords in authority simply opened the tank floodgates.

This caused the whole of the lower lying areas in HSR to be under water. Indeed the house in which I lived had a foot and more of water in the ground floor. There was no power for 4 days or so. My dogs and I moved upstairs and we lived in a sort of twilight zone with candles and tortoise mosquito coils. We ate maggi noodles and bread and butter and eggs cooked on an old kerosene stove on the terrace which had a small roofed section. It wasnt easy. Our furniture was affected, things like fridge and washing machine etc were ruined. A financially significant, unnecessary and hard to brush off type of loss in those days. One day even a snake came swimming by probably looking for dry ground but upon reaching the porch, he went off, probably because of the flowing current.

Those days I had a Mahindra Bolero. Water had reached the upper half of its wheels, almost up to one third of the door level.

I spent quite a lot of effort and time in the Bolero with a tow rope helping other smaller cars which got into deep water.

In that same period owing to the same heavy rains, my opposite neighbour’s basement garage was totally flooded and his Indica was floating.

The entire ST Bed area and the lower bits of Koramangala 80 ft road were also severely under water.

Yet, looking back to just 17 years ago, we dont seem to have learned any lessons. If you take a look st ST Bed, now there is more construction there than ever there was before!

Its quite similar to what happened in Madras in 2015. When the great Lords and Ladies in authority opened the Chembarambakkam floodgates on account of seriously heavy rains, and flooded the whole city of Madras. Posh areas. Common people’s areas. Poor people’s areas. Everything was under water.

Those who forget History are condemned to repeat it.

[balenoed_]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

The usual Bangalore-Mysore highway have water logging in Ramanagara area.

Not really true. A bunch of folks have travelled overnight and today and no issues reported. In fact the new highway opened at many places bypasses multiple towns (including Ramanagara) and is a bliss to travel.

PS: Update as of today until next rains and closures.

[airguitar]

I read the papers and am also able to detect a tone of unhealthy relish, in reporting the misfortune of these people. The sadness is that in India, when it comes to a ‘who will blink first’ contest between normal people and these authorities, it is always the normal people who end up ‘blinking first’, because of all the various other day to day pressures and deliverables and this is what allows these authorities to continue their inefficiencies and corruption with near complete impunity.

Exactly my words! I'm appalled at how some quarters of the media and some common citizens are making the disaster a meme-fest or using the opportunity to "position" other cities as better for business. I do not know what to say. I'm a Bangalorean and I have spent my money or goodies or effort or time or emotions when other cities were in trouble. I just cannot stand the dark jubilation that some are going through right now.

Can we help straight-jacket those friends and acquaintances that may be abusing Bangalore on twitter right now? Please. It's ok if you cannot get onto the road to help - we all have our compulsions - but atleast educate your friends and family and prevent them from badmouthing Bangalore.

Remember the good times that city has given us? Remember that it's still the best place to get high-paying jobs in the technology field. Remember the good wines we have had, the good food we have had, the "much better" law and order we have enjoyed, the quality of educational institutions we may have graduated from, the number of times we have boasted about the equable climate, the weekend trips and photos that we have flaunted?

Oh yes, I have spent my hard-earned money in settling in Bangalore, eschewed opportunities going abroad to make that quick buck and gritted my teeth and borne the brunt of traffic too - all because I love my country and more so, my adopted city of 40 years. The apathy towards Blr infra guts me just as much as anyone else. But I don't abuse the city - it's given me much more than I have given it!

[itwasntme]

Anyone have any updates on the BLR-Hosur-Chennai route? Any waterlogging etc.?

[am1m]

Originally Posted by airguitar

The apathy towards Blr infra guts me just as much as anyone else. But I don't abuse the city - it's given me much more than I have given it!

I don't like any unjustified abuse of the city I was born in and spent the past 40+ years in either.

But just asking a few questions to provoke thought (not to provoke you or anyone else!):

Is complaining about the bad infra through the only channels that might possibly bring attention and action really abusing the city? I'm sure there are vitriolic tweets that come under the term abuse, but should we also "strait-jacket" legit complaints? Is that what will make our city better?

Is it possible that by deflecting criticism to those who complain, we are unwittingly playing in to the hands of the authorities who should be held responsible for the mess? Some of the tweet themes that seek to deflect blame and dismiss complaints seem to have originated from political handles. And of course some of the unjustified and extreme tweets against the authorities also originate from opposition political handles.

Either way, should we let ourselves be played by either party? And does that mean we ignore what is happening, even if it is in one part of the city? Like the saying goes- if my neighbor's house is burning (or in this case, drowning!), I'd better help, tomorrow it could be my house.

[manjubp]

Originally Posted by am1m

I don't like any unjustified abuse of the city I was born in and spent the past 40+ years in either.

+1. Same here and in this city for 50+ years, except when went out of city for schooling and my masters.

We all only crib on social media, very few of give official feedback/compalint to the government department inclduing BBMP and traffic police.
Last week I saw two deadly path holes which could seriously hurt two wheelers on the road and immediately lodged a formal complaint to BBMP, within 24hrs, I saw both patched up and followed by two different calls to track each of the complaints for closure.

We need to change our attitude, start complaining about the issues, officially.

Originally Posted by am1m

Either way, should we let ourselves be played by either party? And does that mean we ignore what is happening, even if it is in one part of the city? Like the saying goes- if my neighbor's house is burning (or in this case, drowning!), I'd better help, tomorrow it could be my house.

We the citizens, are also equally responsible. Where is residence association(formal or informal) in the flooded area, which should have made things better. I am surprised to see that many of them brought the plots/villas/plots, even after knowing that they are built on encroached lakebeds or canals. In last 20 years, I have seen many of my friends even after warning, they brought the plots and of encroachment, like in rainbow layout.

I stay in old Bangalore and any civic issues, we residents will go to local MLA/BBMP ward office/Canceller to get our work, even phone calls does serve teh purpose. Of course local language helps. Also the residents of IT corridor lives as though they have nothing to do with local issues or local culture outside their gated community. Of course there are good exceptions for these statements too.

[ags82]

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. 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.

As you can see, EC-1 and EC-2 are built on areas that are on higher grounds and therefore the water flows away (more precisely, eastwards as that is the natural drainage path). This results in no waterlogging except for micro-waterlogging in pockets due to poor planning.
Attachment 2355471

Now, let's take a look at Kadubeesanahalli. This ORR stretch along with all the settlements and SEZs are built literally on top of the natural drainage path for this region. The water flows from Bellandur Lake to Varthur Lake and subsequently eastwards.
Attachment 2355472

Link to the above topography maps: https://en-gb.topographic-map.com/maps/lpj1/Bengaluru/

The waterlogged Divyashree 77 villas that was shared earlier is built on this natural drainage. You can see the natural canals on the Google Map satellite view below:

Attachment 2355473

I find it unbelievable that such factors were not considered by the authorities when given for development. Ideally, these canals should have been further strengthened (in terms of volume capacity), embankments built and clear buffer zones laid out before approving such lands for development. But that's just me living in Utopia.

Agree to that!! As per topography map we can see bellandur lake is 872 metres above sea level where as the adjacent areas like yemalur and Divya sree 77 East is 867 metres. So naturally water flows to the lower areas first. This is just nature taking over.

[Red Liner]

There is nothing wrong with Bangalore. But there is something desperately wrong with the political leadership that has been around the past 25 years.

That’s who we should be talking about. Make them pay. Boot them out.