Bangalore gets dunked

When I was returning from a trip to Kerala, the bus I was travelling in got stuck in a traffic jam on Hosur Road, which is the road that leads to Bangalore's famous Electronic City. I was stuck for three hours and only when we reached near the flyover did we see the problem. Water had overflowed from a nearby lake and the water was almost knee deep. It was Monday and the whole of Bangalore was affected by the rains that came on Saturday and Sunday.

Then, Tuesday we found out that more areas had problems with flooding and the respite from the rain does not appear to be near. The met department has warned of two more days of rain but thankfully there has been no rain so far, but as I write this, the day is getting darker and cloudier. It's about 1 pm in the afternoon.

Bangalore does have drains in some areas but most of the times the drains are filled with trash or mud and when the water gets a little high, it overflows on to the streets. Then, there are a few low-lying areas which are perpetually in trouble.

There has been a visible increase in the amount of people in Bangalore. I can make out the difference from two years ago. Two years, not 10 or 20. If you get so many people into any city, the city is bound to feel the pressure. And that's what's happening in Bangalore. Heck, it's happening to an extent in Hyderabad, and probably will happen in Pune as well.

You cannot grow at such a rapid pace and then expect that things will be perfect. There are consequences to rapid growth and that's what we're seeing in Bangalore.

I wonder if we'll learn from this.