Two killed in Bengaluru floods

India's Silicon Valley lashed by three days of pre-monsoon storms

People with their valuables as they walk down on a flooded road following a heavy rainfall, in Bangalore. EPA, File

At least two people died in Bengaluru as pre-monsoon storms wreaked havoc in the city known as India’s Silicon Valley because of its high-tech industry.

The capital city of Karnataka state was lashed with torrential rains for three days, flooding low-lying areas and underpasses.

India's Meteorological Department warned that the city will continue to receive heavy rainfall till the end of the month.

A 22-year-old woman died inside a taxi in a flooded underpass and a 31-year-old man died after falling into a storm well on Sunday, the first day of the deluge.

Potholes have appeared in many major roads and more than 20 houses have been flooded in Mahalakshmi area, local media reported.

In Mallaswer, an upscale part of the city, the jewellery store Nihaan Jewellers was flooded with rain and sewage, uprooted plants and trees, destroying ornaments worth 20 million rupees.

Footage captured on mobile phones showed the moment the muddy water gushed into the showroom, submerging gold-plated ornaments.

“About five feet [1.5 metres] of rainwater and sewage water came inside the shop. The rainwater has no place to go down the drain, as the road is illogically built. There is no drainage, they are building a road but have not left space for the water to go down the drains,” the shop's owner Priya Sanjay told The National.

“Our shop is in the basement. There is a ton of mud and leaves inside the shop. We have incurred a loss of 2 crore [20 million] rupees. We completed the first anniversary last year but now, we have lost everything. It is because of the authorities and lack of planning.”

The municipal corporation said it was struggling to deal with calls about the flooding.

“We are getting 300 calls a day regarding the sewage and drainage and tree felling,” said Manjunath Swamy, deputy commissioner for administration.

“This time it is not only raining but wind speed as well. The wind speed is 36 kph, which is uprooting trees.”

Mr Swamy said authorities had sent teams from the forest department and collaborated with the water and electricity bodies and the fire service to help citizens.

“We have cleared the underpasses and closed them during the evening as the rains are mostly in the night. Traffic and police authorities have been informed to not allow anyone to use them. We have closed around 18 to 21 underpasses,” he said.

The city, with a population of about 13 million, is surrounded by lakes and ponds. Each year, floods are triggered by torrential rainfall in the monsoon season because of poor infrastructure and drainage.

In many areas, a lack of culverts leads to sewage and rainwater building up, resulting in waterlogging.

Activist say that the construction of roads and residential and commercial buildings is out of control and the infrastructure cannot support the rate of development.

“Bengaluru has seen exponential growth as an IT hub but the most dynamic city has come at a cost of more population than it can accommodate. The infrastructure growth has not kept pace with population,” said Srinivas Alavilli, a civic rights activist.

He said there was a lack of political accountability.

The city does not have and Mr Alavilli said this meant a lack of clear vision and policies.

“The political economy is such that it revolves around real estate,” he said.

“It was a sleepy town and suddenly woke up to become an IT hub but the governance structure has not evolved. The decentralisation of administration has not happened.

“There is no political accountability as there is no empowered city governance. There is a lack of planning by the authorities, it is always the reaction, response and relief system. There is a governance gap.”