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New York would be just as badly hit if it received Bengaluru-like rain: Sudhakar
At 131.6mm, Bengaluru recorded the highest rainfall in September in 34 years (since 1988). As per the IMD data, Bengaluru recorded the first highest rainfall on September 12, 1988, when the city witnessed 177.6 mm of rain. The second highest rainfall was reported on September 26, 2014, at 132.6 mm.
Karnataka minister for health and family welfare, K Sudhakar, said on Tuesday that any city in the world would face a similar crisis as Bengaluru if it received the same amount of rainfall as reported in the city on Sunday.
At 131.6mm, Bengaluru recorded the highest rainfall in September in 34 years (since 1988). As per the IMD data, Bengaluru recorded the first highest rainfall on September 12, 1988, when the city witnessed 177.6 mm of rain. The second highest rainfall was reported on September 26, 2014, at 132.6 mm.
Sudhakar said the volume of rainfall was unheard of in the city’s history and this crippled the city. Reacting to a letter by Mohandas Pai, the former director of Infosys, to chief minister Basavaraj Bommai on the crumbling infrastructure in the city due to rains, Sudhakar said, “What would have happened if New York City would have received the same amount of excessive rain as here?
“Complaining is a very easy job. Solving the problem is a distant thing. “Whose fault is it to merge hundreds of villages into greater Bengaluru and not take up any development?” he added.
“During this crisis time, citizens must join their hands with the government to face the situation. This is not the time for the blame game.”
Meanwhile, the Opposition Congress organised a protest against the failure of the BJP government in Karnataka to handle the situation following heavy rainfall in Bengaluru and other parts of the state at the Freedom Park on Tuesday .
Normal life has come to a halt in the IT capital with most parts of the city being under water. Electricity and water supply have been disrupted while photos of office goers struggling in traffic snarl in knee-deep water, taking a tractor to reach their workplaces have shocked social media.
Several private schools have declared holidays and have switched to online teaching for a few days, while many firms have suggested that employees work from home.
Most parts of the Outer Ring Road, Sarjapur road, that houses some IT firms resembled lakes, affecting the movement of vehicular traffic. Tractors were ploughing through the flooded roads and streets, ferrying people to their respective destinations.
Biotechnology industry veteran Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw termed the rain havoc in Bengaluru as “devastating” and said the city has never faced flooding at such a scale.
Both the government and developers need to take collective responsibility to address water-logging, the Executive Chairperson of Bengaluru-headquartered biopharmaceuticals company, Biocon, told PTI on Tuesday.
“It’s devastating and unprecedented. Bengaluru has never faced flooding at such a scale”, she said.Mazumdar-Shaw said building codes need to be redrawn, and called for a corrective and preventive action plan after a “post-hoc analysis” of root causes.”No point in a blame game but an action plan that can be expeditiously implemented (is needed).”
