Bengaluru, India’s Silicon Valley, is notorious for its dilapidated public transportation system and shoddy infrastructure. It has now been revealed that the city’s IT companies lost more than $28 million (Rs 225 crore) in a single day on August 30 due to employees being stuck in traffic for more than five hours.
According to reports, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) provided the estimate in a letter to state chief minister Basavaraj Bommai based on the flooding caused by monsoon rains that brought the city to a halt.
‘Flooding on the ORR on August 30 resulted in a loss of Rs 225 crore because staff were stranded for more than 5 hours. The ORR’s inadequate infrastructure has now reached crisis proportions.’ ORRCA also stated that traffic jams were observed despite the fact that only 30% of the total traffic on the ring road returned.
‘Even though only 30% of the ORR population has returned to work from home, the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle future growth has sparked global concern. Member companies have made significant investments in the ORR,’ said the letter.
‘It is estimated that over a half a million people are employed on the Outer Ring Road stretch, starting from Krishnarajapuram to the Central Silk Board area in Bengaluru,’ the body wrote, noting that the stretch provided employment to over a million people and contributed significantly to the economy. ‘The 17-kilometer stretch also employs over a million people directly and indirectly and contributes significantly to the state’s economy’.
According to WION, India’s major IT hub has been inundated with rains for the past week or so. Karnataka, the southern Indian state whose capital is Bengaluru, has received 820 mm of rain. This has had an impact on 27 districts and 187 villages. According to the Press Trust of India, nine millimetres of rain fell in a 24-hour period, affecting 20 villages.
As a result, the roads have flooded, forcing motorists to wade through murky waters. Motor boats are sometimes used to transport people from one location to another. Earlier this week, a photo of a volunteer holding a catfish (locally known as Singhara) caught on the city’s streets circulated the internet. For years, Bengaluru has served as a meme template for netizens mocking the city’s nightmare traffic.
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