Rains, floods trigger small and big Internet downtime in Bengaluru

Sources at multiple service providers also confirmed that there have been network interruptions, mostly in flood-hit areas in Bengaluru

Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association on Monday asked almost a million tech and bank workers employed by various enterprises in the Outer Ring Road area to work from home for the whole of this week. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR

Most techies and professionals working from home in the city have experienced Internet downtime, in the range of a couple of hours to a few seconds every hour, in the last three days, as rains pounded Bengaluru.

Sources at multiple service providers also confirmed that there have been network interruptions, mostly in flood-hit areas.

More robust

However, connections resumed soon after each of these occurrences of downtime, they claimed. “Compared to pre-COVID-19 times, networks are more robust and reliable these days as providers got prepared to take extra loads. But things can slow down a bit when the physical infrastructure that supports the soft infrastructure itself is exposed to external challenges,’‘ said an official at a Bengaluru-based broadband firm.

A senior telecom executive said his Internet service and fixed telephony firm has been receiving calls from customers who reported “slight slowness” or “temporary downtime” in networks in the last couple of days.

Although The Hindu reached out to the Cellular Operators’ Association of India (COAI), a body that tracks the operations of ISPs and telcos, it did not elicit a response.

Aditya Harilal, a senior tech professional who resides near the water-logged Bellandur Lake area said, he has been facing network (both broadband and mobile data) interruptions multiple times a day in the last three days and therefore the work-from-home also has been affected. Minor to medium network interruptions were also felt in Basavanagudi, although the area is not waterlogged.

Back to work-from-home

Meanwhile, Outer Ring Road Companies’ Association (ORRCA) on Monday asked almost a million tech and bank workers employed by various enterprises in the Outer Ring Road area to work from home for the whole of this week.

Wipro’s Sarjapur Road was flooded completely as torrential rains continued to batter the city and its outskirts.

“Due to heavy rainfall in Bengaluru, Wipro has advised its employees to work from home. Business continuity plans have been invoked and there has been no disruption to our operations. We are closely monitoring the situation,’‘ the company told this newspaper.

According to Joy V.R, secretary, Sarjapur, RWA, more damages might happen if the rains continued in the city or on the outskirts for another couple of days.

“All the water from various lakes, Varathur, Bidruguppe, Kasavnahalli, Bellandur and Muthanallur, are now flowing to the Dakshina Pinakini at the edge of Sarjapur village. If the rains continued for a few more days, the river will swell up and flood the entire village. Also, we have 26 lakes within a radius of 7 kilometres in the village,” he cautioned.