Minutes after rain poured on Malleswaram’s Sampige road in Bengaluru, a jewellery store located below ground level was flooded with 4 ft of water. The store owners, who allegedly suffered a loss of Rs. 2.5 crore, said that the flooding was due to the recent white-topping of the road.
On May 21, at around 3 pm, water rushed into Nihaan Fashion Jewellery in Malleswaram's ninth block within five minutes of heavy rain. Owners Sanju and Priya Reddy, who were inside the store at the time, were taken aback by the force of water that washed away 80% of their gold jewellery and furniture. The water even entered the cellar below the store and destroyed their stock. The couple, along with the staff, had to rush outside to save their lives. With help from the neighbouring store owners, they were able to save some jewellery placed on the top shelves. Soon, a few local shopkeepers dug up the footpath to ensure the remaining rainwater had a place to go other than inside the store.
Shop owner Sanju said that water rushed in because of the recent white-topping (covering a tar road with concrete and cement to make it durable) along the road. According to him, the white-topping had increased the height of the road, making it almost level with the footpath. Water flowed easily from the roads onto the footpath and gradually, into the store.
“Our first anniversary was to be held on May 27. We are very distraught. Despite complaining to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), nobody has visited the store to check the damages. We don’t know what will happen during the monsoon,” said Sanju. He said that BBMP parked their garbage collection trucks right outside his store every morning, because of which bits of garbage blocked the water drain. The water that flooded his store was mixed with the sewage water that seeped from the truck. Stating that the jewellery items were unusable because they can’t be melted, Sanju said that he was unable to recover the loss even with insurance.
Vinod and Madhu Kalra, the owners of the clothing store next door, faced the same issue as water entered their store, destroying much of their stock. “We had heavy rainfall during Diwali last year. Water entered the store because of the ongoing white-topping work. As the road is sunken compared to all other roads nearby, water accumulates in front of our stores.”
The BBMP began white-topping around March last year. Vinay also stated that despite reaching out to the BBMP several times, there has been no response so far. However, an assistant engineer from the BBMP told TNM that since the area is in proximity to some of the major roads in Bengaluru, they have collected information and will soon make necessary alterations.