While witnessing the striking sign of urban distress in Bangalore, several technology professionals are on the verge of temporarily leaving the city.
Bangalore Facing Acute Water Crisis
According to these people, an acute water shortage has made their daily life unsustainable for those who reside in the city’s periphery.
It appears that the crisis has pushed residents like Sumantha, an employee at a multinational corporation, to seek refuge in his ancestral home in Mysuru.
He has to leave behind the conveniences and connections of the IT hub during this crisis.
Sumantha, who resides in Ayyappa Nagar, KR Puram, and his wife faced a severe water shortage in their apartment complex.
They are struggling even for the most basic necessities.
Sumantha said, “The water crisis forced us to move temporarily. Despite this, we’re still paying a hefty monthly rent of Rs 25,000 for a flat we cannot live in.”
His situation gets further complicated with his employer’s no work-from-home policy.
Because of this, he has to go with the occasional stays with friends in South Bengaluru, where water scarcity is less severe, to attend office meetings.
In another such scenario, Anita Srinivas, an IT professional is affected by the crisis and she has opted for a more permanent solution by moving to Mumbai, where she owns a second home.
Anita said, “Our dependency on borewells, now dried up, and the wait for water tankers made our situation in Bengaluru untenable,” highlighting the dire circumstances that forced her decision.
Here, the crisis is largely attributed to the rampant drying up of borewells which are a critical water source for many in Bengaluru.
So far, the situation has affected over 3000 borewells, including one at the residence of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
So, the residents who relied on borewell water for over 15 years, are now facing acute shortages and community tensions over water distribution.
One such resident, Rashmi Ravindran said, “We have lived in Bengaluru for 15 years now and never faced such an acute water shortage. We live in an independent 30×40 house in Banaswadi. We depend on borewell water. The borewell that supplies water has lost its depth with very little water.”
The situation is so dire that now she is contemplating moving back to their house in Wayanad and putting up their Bangalore house as a PG as “the neighbors have started fighting to get water to their homes and fixing valves in front of their houses. The water flow pressure is so low that nobody gets enough.”
Employees Urging For Work From Home
While the residents in Bengaluru are fighting the water crisis, they are further urging authorities to mandate work from home till the situation improves.
People are now urging the government and companies on social media to mandate work from home so that the employees can go back to their native places.
Further, they are requesting the authorities to mandate WFH until the water problem gets resolved in the city.
In response to this, a few users expressed doubt saying it is unlikely to happen as it would bring down the booming real estate market in the city.
