As the city got some relief from rain over the last few days, employees of companies on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) are going to be back in the office from Monday after switching to work from home the last week following inundation in the area following a downpour.
Last week, leading to flooding on the ORR in the eastern part of Bengaluru, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) instructed almost a million tech and bank workers employed by various enterprises in the ORR area to work from home for the whole of last week.
The ORRCA, which is a representation of several IT and banking companies along the stretch from Silk Board junction to the K.R. Puram corridor, issued an advisory on Sunday which stated: “Most companies are planning to return to business as usual starting from September 12 (Monday). Repairs on the Outer Ring Road and arterial roads continue. Please monitor traffic and weather conditions as applicable for possible impact on commute time.”
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“Since the water has been removed from the Eco Space and the ORR stretch, the road is now accessible without any issue of waterlogging, hence many companies have asked their employees to come to the office. But still, people using the stretch have to be careful and take a note of weather conditions as applicable for possible impact on commute time,” Krishna Kumar, general manager at ORRCA, told The Hindu.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is clearing properties which have encroached storm-water drains (rajakaluves) near the ORR, which had led to widespread flooding on the stretch. Recently, the civic authorities demolished a pathway as well as a wall at a tech park on the Outer Ring Road, for blocking the SWD which was connected to Bellandur lake.
They have also constructed a temporary parallel drain, which is about 300 m on the service road at the same place, to ensure that there would be no flooding in case of heavy rain. The drain has been linked to a culvert to remove water.
Meanwhile, the employees are still not ready to come to the office as they have seen worse during the rain on the ORR. Prasanth Rao, a techie working in an IT firm in the ORR, said, “We have been asked to come to the office from Monday, but we are still anxious about the rain. Every evening, the city receives a downpour which can’t be predicted. Hence, going to the office is still scary due to the flooding.”
“It is better that companies wait and watch till the weather comes to normal and see again if flooding doesn’t happen on the stretch and call us for work in office,” he added.
A resident of Bellandur, Deepthi M. said water was still being pumped out of some properties on the stretch during the weekend. “The authorities are still pumping out water from the road and leaving it in nearby drains. It has been almost a week that the rain has stopped but stagnant water is visible on roads,” she added.
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