Heavy Downpour Disrupts Work in Key IT Centres in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Heavy downpour in Bengaluru created water logging conditions at many parts of the city with many key IT centres getting flooded owing to the unrelenting rainfall since Monday.

Manyata Tech Park, a major hub for technology companies in North Bengaluru, was severely waterlogged on Tuesday after heavy rains lashed the city.

The tech park is home to companies like IBM, Cognizant, TCS, Fidelity, ANZ, Nokia, Nvidia Graphics and several other marquee companies.

Not only Manyata Tech Park, many other tech parks also saw waterlogging conditions. RGA Tech Park on Sarjapur Road, beneath the Carmelaram Railway overbridge, has flooded owing to heavy rains. Similarly, Wipro Gate on Sarjapur Road also saw waterlogging.

According to the India Meteorological Department’s Meteorological Centre, the Bengaluru city observatory recorded a total of 16.2 mm of rainfall as of 8.30 am on Tuesday. Bengaluru International Airport and HAL airport observatories recorded 10.5 mm and 8.6 mm of rainfall respectively.

Throughout the day on Tuesday, Bengaluru experienced heavy bouts of rain. Rain and waterlogging affected Bannerghatta Road, Hebbal flyover, Outer Ring Road at Goraguntepalya, Marathahalli, and Iblur, airport road service road, Vasanth Nagar underpass, Wilson Manor underpass, M G Road, Whitefield Main Road, and Khoday Circle.

Flooding of outer ring road, where many startups have their offices, created much disruption to the work on Tuesday.

“We came to office without knowing such heavy spell will continue. Towards the noon, we were asked to go home and work from home for next two days,” said an executive working in a large startup in ORR area said.

Meanwhile, many companies have asked their employees to work from homes for next two days in the wake up IMD warning.

According to the weather department, the city will witness such heavy rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday.

Meanwhile, the IMD is expected to declare the onset of the northeast monsoon in the city from October 15. Normally, October 15 is when the southwest monsoon withdraws and the onset of the northeast monsoon is declared usually by October 20.

Such heavy waterlogging and difficult commute to offices have sparked debate over ending of remote work by technology firms. In recent months, many companies have asked their staffers to operate for at least three days from offices. Many have also mandated five days work week, completely ending the remote work model. Many techies post their ire over companies’ decisions to stop remote work after the city faces severe rainfall, disrupting normal life.