Heavy rains batter Bengaluru, causing massive traffic jams and widespread waterlogging
PTC News Desk: On Monday, heavy rains early in the morning flooded roads and caused gridlock in Bengaluru, especially in the northern and eastern sections of the city.
A number of social media users—particularly those who work in offices—posted updates describing delays. In addition, videos of school buses caught in traffic were posted by users.
A traffic police advisory stated that there was serious flooding on several key highways, including as the Outer Ring Road between Nagawara Junction and Hebbal, portions of Hosur and Bannerghatta Road, and Veerasandra on Electronics City Road.
Congress promised to make Bengaluru like London, but we almost ended up with Venice instead. pic.twitter.com/u5WqY43Blo — P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP) August 12, 2024
Vehicles were observed wading across the Panathur Main Road, which was flooded. The predicament of homes in low-lying locations, where water seeps into the buildings, was also brought up by officials.
Due to waterlogging and other inconveniences to the residents of Bengaluru, a number of BJP leaders have assailed the Karnataka government, which is governed by the Congress.
"Congress promised to make Bengaluru like London, but we almost ended up with Venice instead," said BJP leader PC Mohan in a post that included a video on X. Tejaswi Surya, the MP for Bengaluru South, posted on X. "The water logging & flooding in Bengaluru, after a few hours of rain in the early morning, once again exposes the absence of municipal leadership in the city."
"For too long, we have approached Bengaluru's traffic issues and inadequate urban infrastructure from the standpoint of an organized town planning authority, instead of applying band-aid fixes. Such remedies do not address the root of the issue; rather, they address its symptoms," the speaker stated.
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, in response, addressed the situation in Bengaluru, saying, "Let's fix it if water has entered apartments and houses." Our goal is for the levels of groundwater to rise.
Shivakumar evaluated the situation by traveling to a few of the impacted locations.
He added: "Malnad, coastal and other places have received rains so that dams are filled, but here rains are not enough, ground water levels have to increase." He was referring to the areas surrounding Bengaluru, such as Ramanagra, Channapatna, Kanakapura, Magadi, Tumakuru, Kunigal, and Kolar, which have not received good rains.
"For too long, we have approached Bengaluru's traffic issues and inadequate urban infrastructure from the standpoint of an organized town planning authority, instead of applying band-aid fixes. These kinds of solutions don't address the root cause of the issue; they just treat the symptoms," he continued.
- With inputs from agencies
