Residents of Kendriya Vihar forced to remain indoors for the past five days

A majority of residents of Kendriya Vihar, a Union government apartment complex, have been forced to remain indoors for the past five days, owing to heavy flooding. Water from Yelahanka lake overflowed into the apartment complex that is home to 600 families.

On Saturday, residents had to wade through knee-deep water, and on Sunday, electricity was cut off as a precautionary measure.

“Water was entering the apartment complex as there were cracks in the boundary walls,” a resident said.

Several residents The Hindu spoke to said they had contacted the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Fire and Emergency Services for help. The apartment association later decided to use its own resources to pump out water, which began to recede by Sunday.

A resident of the fourth floor in Block C8 said that rather than pumping out water, authorities should focus on figuring out how water was entering the complex in the first place.

Clogged drains only made the situation worse. S.R. Vishwanath, Yelahanka MLA, said that the drains will be cleaned and widened. “After the rain, we will conducted an aerial survey and construct larger drains. ₹6 crore has been sanctioned for this purpose,” he said.

Arasu Colony

Several kilometres away in Arasu Colony in Jayanagar, where the walls of two houses collapsed under the onslaught of the rain, residents — mostly migrant workers — are worried that their homes will collapse on them.

“In this area, buildings are not strong and residents fear that they may collapse any time,” said Radha K., a member of Stree Jagruti Samiti and Domestic Workers’ Rights Union. “They also have to deal with flooding during the rains. Construction of the houses built by the BBMP, which are supposed to be allocated, is complete, but the government has not distributed the flats,” she said. She added that the authorities are yet to respond and have not even visited the residents.

Lakes frothing again

Bellandur and Yamlur lakes began frothing once more on Sunday.

Daina E., a resident of Yamlur, said waterlogging was seen on Sunday morning in several parts of Bellandur. It was the same situation in the evening as well, as large parts of Bellandur faced traffic jams.

On Saturday night, owing to the heavy rain, Kodichikkanahalli lake breached, leading to waterlogging on the adjoining streets. Pumps were used to clear the roads.

As Saul Kere started overflowing, the Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association (ORRCA) urged companies in Ecospace to ask employees to work from home.