The flooding in Bengaluru has affected several parts of the city including elite gated communities and high profile residences. Among the rich affected by the floods is the CEO of ed-tech company Unacademy Gaurav Munjal, who was forced to leave his residence along with his family and his dog. The CEO posted a video of them riding in a tractor on social media.
Family and my Pet Albus has been evacuated on a Tractor from our society that’s now submerged. Things are bad. Please take care. DM me if you need any help, I’ll try my best to help. pic.twitter.com/MYnGgyvfx0
— Gaurav Munjal (@gauravmunjal) September 6, 2022
The video comes as Bengaluru is experiencing severe flooding in certain areas after two days of torrential rains. Upscale apartment buildings and gated communities like Divyasree 77 Place, Epsilon Residential Villas, and Rohan Jharoka were among the worst hit by the torrential rains. Other visuals show inflatable boats being used to evacuate residents from their apartments in Ramagondanahalli. Videos also show cars, bikes, and bicycles submerged completely under water.
Speaking to TNM, Raghav Bhagra, a resident of Divyasree 77 place in Marathahalli said, “Around 100 cars are floating in the parking space. Everything is in bad shape. It was so bad that we were taken out on tractors.” He further said that the housing society was cut off from electricity and water supply owing to inundation. “All the residents came together to help each other. People have moved to hotels, and we have come to a relative’s house. You can’t stay in that place anymore as there’s no water or electricity. I have a 16-month-old child as well and it is a very difficult situation.”
Adding that no one from the government, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), or police had come to their rescue, he said, “Builders, government officials, everyone is answerable to the taxpayers. We won’t get our insurance money and there are brand new cars that have been submerged in water. We are forced to live out of our own homes and we don’t know how long this will take.”
“All this damage was avoidable. They could have notified the residents to take out their cars at midnight and minimised the damage. The water started entering the basement at 2 am in the night, everyone would have driven the cars out and the entire thing could have been salvaged. One of my cars is totally submerged and I myself am going through a huge loss,” he said.
Divyasree 77 is an upscale housing society in the city, where prices of properties start at Rs 5 crore. “Despite paying so much money for the apartments and villas, what do we get in return? To live like this in our own country?” asked Raghav. He pointed out that the housing society lacked basic infrastructural planning and that flooding was bound to happen again every time it rains. “Someone has to be answerable for this gross mismanagement. There has to be an outlet for rainwater to flow. How can so much water get accumulated and enter our houses?” he said.
CEO of Shumi toys, Meena Gupta, who is also a resident of Divyasree 77 told TNM, "Almost all the residents have been evacuated from the villas and apartments. There's no power and no clean water in the building and the builder is saying that everything will be restored in a week's time."
Saurabh Tingal, a Board Member at Rohan Jharoka said, “Although the water has receded, every time it rains it comes gushing out. We are not finding people to clean up the sludge, and the drinking water is contaminated with sewage water.” He added that the residents of Rohan Jharoka are spending large amounts of money for maintenance. “We have bought 10 high-intensity water pumps to pump the water out of the society towards the Bellandur lake," he said.
Akash J, a resident of Sterling Ascentia opposite RMZ Ecospace said, “Bisleri can vendors refuse to come here. Yesterday, September 5, they were stuck in traffic and were asked to return by traffic cops. Today they have run out of water cans.”
“Since we don't have water in bathrooms we had to resort to carrying water from swimming pools up the stairs for our chores. I live on a higher floor so my wife and I had to carry water in buckets to our flat,” he said. He added that a few BBMP officials visited the society on September 6 and provided them with a few drinking water cans.