Rains batter Silicon city, yellow alert issued for Bengaluru till Sep 7

Bengaluru, Sep 5 (IANS) Incessant rains continued to batter Silicon city Bengaluru on Monday and authorities crossed their fingers as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert till September 7 for Bengaluru.

Heavy rains lashed Bengaluru throughout Sunday night inundating many residential areas and arterial roads.

Lakhs of vehicle riders and drivers had harrowing time reaching offices due to inundated roads at many localities in Bengaluru on Monday. The Richmond Road constructed under the Smart City Project is facing the problem of water-logging and people are left fuming against authorities.

The Ecospace, hub of IT companies in Marathahalli in Bengaluru, is also inundated with water causing inconvenience for the movement of software professionals.

HAL Airport Traffic police have given a traffic advisory of heavy water-logging near the Eco World and Outer Ring Road traffic movement is very slow. "Travellers be aware of this. Our staff is clearing the traffic, if it is possible please avoid this route," the advisory released on Monday says.

Kala Krishnamurthy, DCP Traffic (East) has stated, "Commuters before venturing out today (Monday), expect slow moving traffic in a lot of places in the city because of continuous rains and water-logging. Please plan your travel accordingly. Traffic police are on their job, easing and regulating the traffic," she stated.

The Outer Ring Road Companies Association has already sent a memorandum to the Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai complaining about crumbling infrastructure in the stretch which houses hundreds of top IT and BT companies and warned him that tech companies will have to move out if the government turns a blind eye towards it.

The Silk Board Junction, one of the major junctions connecting the Electronic City, one of the major tech-hubs of Bengaluru, is also facing the problem of water-logging.

The villages in border district Chamarajanagar are facing the threat of floods as a result of heavy rainfall. The rains have been lashing the border district since Sunday evening and continued on Monday as well.

The yellow alert has also been issued to Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagalur, Chitradurga, Davanagere, Hassan, Kolar, Ramnagar, Kodagu, Chamarajanagar, Mandya, Mysuru, Shivamogga and Tumakuru districts.