Waterlogging & traffic jams in Bengaluru following rain, Tejasvi Surya questions 'Brand Bengaluru'

Bengaluru: Waterlogging and traffic jams were reported in various parts of the city on Monday following early morning showers.

Peak hour traffic jams and inundated roads in several areas, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the city, particularly inconvenienced office-goers and school-going children.

Areas such as Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Nagawara Junction and Hebbal, and Veerasandra on the Electronics City road, parts of Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road, were severely affected, official sources said.

Heavy waterlogging was witnessed on ORR at Marathalli, Karthik Nagar and Kalyan Nagar, Puttenahalli, Varthur Kodi, Panathur Main Road, among others, they said, adding, efforts have been made to restore free movement of traffic.

Some houses and residential layouts in low lying areas were affected by waterlogging and water gushing into the premises, officials said. Several underpasses were also inundated.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in-charge of Bengaluru development, visited some of the rain-affected areas to assess the situation.

"If water has entered apartments and houses, let's rectify it. We want the ground water levels to increase," he said.

Noting that areas around Bengaluru like Ramanagra, Channapatna, Kanakapura, Magadi, Tumakuru, Kunigal and Kolar have not received good rains, he further said: "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."

Bangalore South MP and BJP leader Tejasvi Surya said the waterlogging and flooding in Bengaluru, after a few hours of rain in the early morning, once again exposed the absence of municipal leadership in the city.

"For long, we have implemented band-aid solutions to Bengaluru's traffic problem and poor urban infra, instead of approaching it from the perspective of a well-structured town planning body. Such solutions only fix the symptom and is not the remedy for the problem itself, he posted on 'X'.

For long, we have implemented band-aid solutions to Bengaluru's traffic problem and poor urban infra, instead of approaching it from the perspective of a well-structured town planning body. Such solutions only fix the symptom and is not the remedy for the problem itself.

The… pic.twitter.com/S10ybCW9tO

— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) August 12, 2024

He said 'Brand Bengaluru' stands for technology innovation, unmatched talent pool and rich local culture, but sadly, "only the traffic, water logging, potholes and garbage management issues seem to be marking our brand."

"I had highlighted how the city lacks a directly-elected mayor with a workable term of 3-5 years who can be held accountable for the city's urban infra. Global cities like London, New York and Paris have such strong powerful mayors looking solely into the city's needs," Surya said.

He said the Congress government has neither taken any step to form the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority nor has it delegated traffic engineers any power to plan the traffic management of the city. "Unless we take up town planning and rework on our layouts, 'Brand Bengaluru' will remain a dream."