Bengaluru Rain: Woman Dies Of Electrocution, Schools Closed, IT Firms Resort To WFH; All You Need To Know

As there has been no respite from the incessant torrential downpour in Bengaluru, the IT capital of India, schools in the rain-battered city have declared holidays while IT farms asked their employees to work from home. 

Bikers are pushing their two-wheelers stuck on flooded roads and pedestrians struggling to navigate through knee-deep water was a common sight in some places on Tuesday.

Woman dies from electrocution

A 23-year old woman, who allegedly died due to electrocution after she came into contact with an electric pole while navigating a flooded road here was a "pillar of support" for the family, both financially and morally.

With aged parents and a handicapped brother at home, Akhila  started working after completing her graduation to support the family's needs.

Akhila worked in the administration department of a private school.

"We (parents)  had called her last night and she had told me that she will come home, once the rain stops...no child should face what my child faced. Our life was dependent on her earnings, my wife can't work, son is handicapped, I work as a gardener part-time after taking care of the cows that we have," Akhila's father Somashekar said.

According to police, the incident is said to have taken place at Siddapura near Whitefield here on Monday night, when the victim was returning home on her scooter.

They said, as per account of people at the spot, on reaching the stretch of a road that was waterlogged, the woman's vehicle broke down and she lost balance. As she was trying to regain balance to move ahead, she is said to have touched an electric pole nearby, that had open wires for support, and got electrocuted.

However, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) has said that the "fatal non-departmental accident" occurred after the victim accidently came in contact with advertisement hoarding erected on the road divider.

The mother and sister of Akhila claimed that no one nearby came to help her fearing that they too might get electrocuted, while the father said, one of her colleagues who was passing on the same stretch noticed and attended to her and rushed to hospital, where she succumbed.

"I had asked her to come home soon, and she said, she will. When called later the phone was switched off, she was everything for our house, she was like my son, she was taking care of her handicapped brother, but she has left us," said her inconsolable mother Padma.

Her married sister Asha said, someone should have noticed open wires and taken action;  had it been done my sister would have been alive.

"No one should face her fate or the pain my sister suffered...don't know whom to blame," she said, while remembering her sister as a safe driver.

Noting that if there was no waterlogging and the open wires were taped by the authorities, Akhila would have been alive today, Akhila's father said, adding he has filed a complaint against both Bangalore Electricity Supply Company Limited (BESCOM) and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

"Soon after receiving a call from the public, power supply was disconnected by tripping the feeder at the sub- station and BESCOM officials rushed to the spot. There was no BESCOM wire found around the hoarding, locals told that she was shifted to nearby hospital," it said.

BESCOM officials stated that one private advertisement hoarding was at the spot, it further said, adding that "officials of electrical inspectorate has visited the spot and initiated the inquiry. Whitefield police have registered the case. Body was shifted to private hospital."

Police earlier on Tuesday said they are investigating the incident

Inccessant downpour continues to throw life out of gear

Citizens continue to face difficulties and roads, streets, posh localities continued to reel under water. Expensive top-end cars and vehicles lying under water, even in areas that have luxury villas, was a common sight. 

"I came by tractor as roads are all submerged in water, also our vehicles are under water... I have exams from tomorrow, so I have to go to school," a girl dressed in school uniform said.

"Water has not receded, as there was rain once again last night (Monday), in fact I feel it has increased. I have to go to the office, kids have schools, and I somehow used a tractor today. Request the government and authorities to do something and restore normalcy," said an office goer.

Several private schools have declared holidays and have switched to online teaching for a few days, while many firms have suggested that employees work from home.

Most parts of the Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur road, that houses some IT firms resembled lakes, affecting the movement of vehicular traffic. Tractors were ploughing through the flooded roads and streets, ferrying people to their respective destinations.

IT firms resort to work from home

India's best-known IT firms and startups have asked staff to work from home as torrential rains brought chaos to the streets of the technology hub, marooning roads and snapping water and electricity supplies. 

While parts of the city that houses several global companies and home-grown startups, were underwater, operations in IT firms and startups were largely unaffected as most of them had power backup and a hybrid work environment where some employees logged in from home.

But some of the posh housing colonies were flooded and tractors were pressed into service to rescue residents.

However, technology companies engaged in research and development faced challenges in accessing labs that have adversely impacted their global workflow. 

A senior official of a Germany-based technology company, which has offices in Bengaluru, said that most of the work is being continued in a hybrid environment but the problem is in accessing research labs. 

Residents in Bengaluru, who ordered groceries and food items on apps, found that either orders for some locations were not being accepted at all, or delivery timelines stretched to over an hour even for those apps that otherwise promise quick delivery on regular days.

Swiggy Instamart Head Karthik Gurumurthy tweeted that rains have impacted certain areas like Sarjapur, Marathahalli, and Bellandur badly.

"We are working with our sellers to serve as many orders as possible today. Count on us...Your orders may be delayed but we will deliver," he said.

How the state government is responding?

CM Bommai's government has taken it as a "challenge" to restore normalcy and engineers and workers and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams are working round the clock.

Blaming "maladministration and unplanned administration" of the previous Congress governments for the present misery, Bommai said they had given permissions for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas, on the tank bunds and buffer zones.

They had never thought of maintaining the lakes, he said and hastened to add he has now taken up a challenge to set things rights and had allocated Rs 1,500 crore for development of stormwater drains.

Lot of encroachments are also being cleared.

What did CM Bommai say?

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai cited "unprecedented rainfall and overflowing" water bodies for the deluge but assured his government's commitment to restore normalcy.

He also faulted the 'maladministration' of the previous Congress governments for the present situation of the city and insisted only two zones bore the brunt of rains although a picture was being painted as if entire Bengaluru was struggling. The opposition party hit back at the chief minister for his accusation.

"Karnataka, especially Bengaluru has received unprecedented heavy rain...for the last 90 years such rain has not been recorded. All the tanks are full and are overflowing, some of them have breached, and there have been continuous rains, every day it is raining," he said.

 Speaking to reporters here, Bommai said an image was being created as if the entire city is facing difficulties, which was not the case.

 "Basically the issue lies in two zones, particularly the Mahadevapura zone for reasons such as presence of 69 tanks in that small area and almost all of them have either breached or are overflowing. Secondly, all establishments are in low lying areas, and the third is encroachments," he listed out.

According to chief minister Bommai, some areas in the state capital have received 150 per cent more rains than normal between September 1 and 5. Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli and K R Puram have recorded 307 per cent excess rain, he said, without elaborating.

"This was the highest rainfall in the last 42 years. All the 164 tanks in Bengaluru are filled to the brim," he said.

Backlashes for poor governance

Meanwhile, responding to the floods in the city, Telangana minister KT Ramarao called for "bold reforms in urban planning and governance."

Our cities are our primary economic engines driving the states'/country's growth and with rapid urbanisation and sub-urbanisation, "infrastructure is bound to crumble as we haven't infused enough capital into upgrading the same," he said in a tweet.

"We need bold reforms in urban planning & governance. Get away from conservative mindset..." he said in another tweet.

"Clean roads, clean water, clean air & better storm water management systems are not hard to build," Ramarao, son of Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, added. 

Hitting back at CM Basavaraj Bommai for blaming previous Congress governments' 'maladministration' for the city's rain woes, party's state president D K Shivakumar urged the CM and his administration to perform or face election .

He also alleged the "corrupt" BJP government and its officials were responsible for Bengaluru's current situation.

(With PTI inputs)