Bengaluru: Harish Pullanoor spent his weekends in the late 1980s tramping around the marshes and ponds of Yemalur, an area then on the eastern edge of the Indian metropolis of Bengaluru, where his cousins would join him catching small freshwater fish.
In the 1990s, Bengaluru, once a genteel city of gardens, lakes and a cool climate, rapidly became India’s answer to Silicon Valley, attracting millions of workers and the regional headquarters of some of the world’s biggest IT companies.
Concrete replaced green spaces and construction around the edge of lakes blocked off connecting canals, limiting the city’s capacity to absorb and siphon off water.
Last week, after the city’s heaviest rains in decades, the Yemalur neighbourhood was submerged under waist-deep water along with some other parts of Bengaluru, disrupting the southern metropolis’ IT industry and dealing a blow to its reputation.
Residents fed up with gridlocked traffic and water shortages during the dry season have long complained about the city’s infrastructure.
But flooding during the monsoon has raised fresh questions about the sustainability of rapid urban development, especially if weather patterns become more erratic and intense because of climate change.
“It’s very, very sad,” said Pullanoor, who was born close to Yemalur but now lives in the western city of Mumbai, parts of which also face sporadic flooding like many of India’s urban centres.
“It’s very, very sad,” said Pullanoor, who was born close to Yemalur but now lives in the western city of Mumbai, parts of which also face sporadic flooding like many of India’s urban centres.
“The trees have disappeared. The parks have almost disappeared. There is chock-a-block traffic.”
Big businesses are also complaining about worsening disruptions, which they say can cost them tens of millions of dollars in a single day.
Bengaluru hosts more than 3,500 IT companies and some 79 “tech parks” – upmarket premises that house offices and entertainment areas catering to technology workers.
Wading through flooded highways last week, they struggled to reach modern glass-faced complexes in and around Yemalur where multinational firms including JP Morgan and Deloitte operate alongside large Indian start-ups.
Millionaire entrepreneurs were among those forced to escape flooded living rooms and swamped bedrooms on the back of tractors.
Insurance companies said initial estimates for loss of property were ran into millions of rupees, with numbers expected to go up in the next few days. Reuters
