India's own Silicon Valley city Bengaluru is infamous for its dilapidated public transport system and shoddy infrastructure. Now, it has been revealed that the IT companies in the city lost over $28 million (Rs&nbsp;225 crore) in a single day on August 30&nbsp;as the employees remained stuck in traffic jams for over five hours.&nbsp;

Reportedly, the&nbsp;Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) in a letter to state chief minister Basavaraj Bommai gave the estimate based on the flooding, caused by the monsoon rains which brought the city to a standstill.&nbsp;

“Flooding on ORR on August 30 has led to a loss of Rs 225 crore as staff were stuck on the road for more than 5 hours. Inadequate infrastructure on ORR has now reached a crisis level."&nbsp;

ORRCA further added that the traffic snarls were observed even as only 30 per cent of the total traffic on the ring road returned.&nbsp;

"Even though only 30 per cent&nbsp;of ORR population has returned to working from office, the collapse of the infrastructure has drawn global concern on the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle further growth. Member companies have made a substantial investment on the ORR,” the letter read.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/wion-climate-tracker-heavy-rainfall-floods-parts-of-india-water-logging-in-indias-bengaluru-511830">WATCH |&nbsp;WION Climate Tracker: Heavy rainfall floods parts of India | Water logging in India's Bengaluru</a>

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Remarking that the stretch granted employment to over a million people and contributed significantly to the economy, the body wrote,&nbsp;“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 17 km stretch is also providing direct and indirect employment to over a million people and has a great contribution to the economy of the state.”&nbsp;

As reported by WION, India's major IT hub has been lashed by rains incessantly over the last week or so.&nbsp;Karnataka, the southern Indian state of which Bengaluru is a capital has received 820 mm of rainfall. This has affected 27 districts and 187 villages. As per Press Trust of India, nine mm rainfall has been recorded in a 24-hour span affecting 20 villages.

Consequently,&nbsp;the roads have flooded and vehicle owners are having to wade through murky waters. In some cases, people are using motor boats to travel from one place to another.&nbsp;

Earlier this week, a photo started doing the rounds of internet where&nbsp;a volunteer could be seen holding a catfish&nbsp;(locally known as Singhara) caught on the streets of the city.&nbsp;

Read more:<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/live-catfish-caught-on-flooded-road-sums-up-situation-in-rain-hit-bengaluru-511856">&nbsp;Live Catfish caught on flooded road sums up situation in rain-hit Bengaluru</a>

For years, Bengaluru has remained a meme template for the netizens who quote fun of the city's nightmarish traffic jams.

(With inputs from agencies) 
 
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India's own Silicon Valley city Bengaluru is infamous for its dilapidated public transport system and shoddy infrastructure. Now, it has been revealed that the IT companies in the city lost over $28 million (Rs 225 crore) in a single day on August 30 as the employees remained stuck in traffic jams for over five hours.

India's own Silicon Valley city Bengaluru is infamous for its dilapidated public transport system and shoddy infrastructure. Now, it has been revealed that the IT companies in the city lost over $28 million (Rs 225 crore) in a single day on August 30 as the employees remained stuck in traffic jams for over five hours. Reportedly, the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) in a letter to state chief minister Basavaraj Bommai gave the estimate based on the flooding, caused by the monsoon rains which brought the city to a standstill. “Flooding on ORR on August 30 has led to a loss of Rs 225 crore as staff were stuck on the road for more than 5 hours. Inadequate infrastructure on ORR has now reached a crisis level." ORRCA further added that the traffic snarls were observed even as only 30 per cent of the total traffic on the ring road returned. "Even though only 30 per cent of ORR population has returned to working from office, the collapse of the infrastructure has drawn global concern on the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle further growth. Member companies have made a substantial investment on the ORR,” the letter read. WATCH | WION Climate Tracker: Heavy rainfall floods parts of India | Water logging in India's Bengaluru × Remarking that the stretch granted employment to over a million people and contributed significantly to the economy, the body wrote, “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 17 km stretch is also providing direct and indirect employment to over a million people and has a great contribution to the economy of the state.” As reported by WION, India's major IT hub has been lashed by rains incessantly over the last week or so. Karnataka, the southern Indian state of which Bengaluru is a capital has received 820 mm of rainfall. This has affected 27 districts and 187 villages. As per Press Trust of India, nine mm rainfall has been recorded in a 24-hour span affecting 20 villages. Consequently, the roads have flooded and vehicle owners are having to wade through murky waters. In some cases, people are using motor boats to travel from one place to another. Earlier this week, a photo started doing the rounds of internet where a volunteer could be seen holding a catfish (locally known as Singhara) caught on the streets of the city. Read more: Live Catfish caught on flooded road sums up situation in rain-hit Bengaluru For years, Bengaluru has remained a meme template for the netizens who quote fun of the city's nightmarish traffic jams. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

India: IT companies in Bengaluru lost over $28 million due to employees stuck in traffic jams

Every day more than 1,000 water tankers rumble past Nagraj&#39;s small plywood store in Bangalore, throwing up clouds of dust as they rush their valuable cargo to homes and offices in India&#39;s drought-stricken tech hub.

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Gleaming new apartment blocks are still springing up all over the city is known as India&#39;s Silicon Valley -- even though there is nowhere near enough mains water to supply those already living and working there.

Many rely entirely on supplies shipped in by tankers filled from giant borewells that have caused groundwater levels to plummet, sparking predictions Bangalore could be the first Indian city to run out of the water.

&quot;There is a severe scarcity of water here,&quot; said Nagraj, 30, who moved to the suburban neighbourhood of Panathur a decade ago and has seen it transformed by rampant construction.

&quot;The future will be very difficult. It is impossible to imagine how they will find water, how they will live. Even if we dig 1,500 feet (450 metres) down, we are not getting water.&quot;

Panathur lies next to Bangalore&#39;s biggest lake, Bellandur, which provides a poignant reminder that things weren&#39;t always like this.

Once known as India&#39;s garden city for its lush green parks, Bangalore was built around a series of lakes created to form rainwater reservoirs and prevent the precious resource from draining away.

Many have now been concreted over to build apartment blocks with names like Dream Acres and Strawberry Fields to house the workers who have flocked here during India&#39;s outsourcing boom.

Many of those that remain are heavily polluted. Bellandur has become so toxic it spontaneously catches fire, and emits clouds of white froth so large authorities have had to build barriers to keep it from spilling onto the road.

&quot;The city is dying,&quot; says TV&nbsp;Ramachandra, an ecologist with the Indian Institute of Science who has predicted the Karnataka state capital could be the first Indian city to follow Cape Town in running out of water.

&quot;If the current trend of growth and urbanisation is allowed (to continue), by 2020, 94 percent of the landscape will be concretised.&quot;

Already, more than half of Bangalore&#39;s estimated 10 million inhabitants have to rely on borewells and tankers for their water because there isn&#39;t enough mains supply to go round.

Most of the city&#39;s municipal water is supplied by the Cauvery river, whose waters flow through Karnataka and neighbouring Tamil Nadu state before emptying into the Bay of Bengal, and have been bitterly disputed for more than a century.

Two years ago, an order to release extra water from the river to ease a shortage threatening crops in Tamil Nadu sparked deadly protests in Bangalore that forced hundreds of companies to close.

Last month the Supreme Court stepped in, altering the river-sharing arrangement in Karnataka&#39;s favour citing Bangalore&#39;s dire need.Ecologist Ramachandra says Bangalore has enough annual rainfall to provide water for its estimated 10 million people without resorting to borewells or rivers -- if only it could harvest the resource more effectively.

&quot;If there is a water crisis, we should not think about river diversion. We should think about how to retain the water,&quot; he said, blaming &quot;fragmented, uncoordinated governance&quot; for the crisis.

As in the rest of India though, there is little incentive for citizens to save water.

Despite years of drought, the government still provides clean water to citizens at heavily subsidised rates and access to groundwater is largely unregulated.

&quot;In Bangalore 1,000 bottles of the cleanest treated water comes to our doorstep and we pay only six rupees (about nine cents)... the incentive is not there,&quot; says A.R. Shivakumar, a senior scientist with the Karnataka State Council of Science and Technology.

Despite this, Shivakumar and his family have not used a single drop of mains water in the 23 years they have lived at their home in Bangalore.

Instead they rely entirely on rainwater collected through gutters and stored in large tanks under the house, which Shivakumar designed with water efficiency in mind. Even the cement used to build it was made with recycled water.

His work setting up rainwater harvesting at bus stops, in slum housing and even along the city&#39;s metro system proved so effective that city authorities now require all new housing developments to have inbuilt systems.

&quot;This crisis will force everyone to take up measures like rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures,&quot; he told AFP.

&quot;The new generation have shown a lot of concern toward the environment and conservation measures. That will definitely take it forward. Awareness is already on the increase.&quot;

Every day more than 1,000 water tankers rumble past Nagraj's small plywood store in Bangalore, throwing up clouds of dust as they rush their valuable cargo to homes and offices in India's drought-stricken tech hub

Every day more than 1,000 water tankers rumble past Nagraj's small plywood store in Bangalore, throwing up clouds of dust as they rush their valuable cargo to homes and offices in India's drought-stricken tech hub. × Gleaming new apartment blocks are still springing up all over the city is known as India's Silicon Valley -- even though there is nowhere near enough mains water to supply those already living and working there. Many rely entirely on supplies shipped in by tankers filled from giant borewells that have caused groundwater levels to plummet, sparking predictions Bangalore could be the first Indian city to run out of the water. "There is a severe scarcity of water here," said Nagraj, 30, who moved to the suburban neighbourhood of Panathur a decade ago and has seen it transformed by rampant construction. "The future will be very difficult. It is impossible to imagine how they will find water, how they will live. Even if we dig 1,500 feet (450 metres) down, we are not getting water." Panathur lies next to Bangalore's biggest lake, Bellandur, which provides a poignant reminder that things weren't always like this. Once known as India's garden city for its lush green parks, Bangalore was built around a series of lakes created to form rainwater reservoirs and prevent the precious resource from draining away. Many have now been concreted over to build apartment blocks with names like Dream Acres and Strawberry Fields to house the workers who have flocked here during India's outsourcing boom. Many of those that remain are heavily polluted. Bellandur has become so toxic it spontaneously catches fire, and emits clouds of white froth so large authorities have had to build barriers to keep it from spilling onto the road. "The city is dying," says TV Ramachandra, an ecologist with the Indian Institute of Science who has predicted the Karnataka state capital could be the first Indian city to follow Cape Town in running out of water. "If the current trend of growth and urbanisation is allowed (to continue), by 2020, 94 percent of the landscape will be concretised." Already, more than half of Bangalore's estimated 10 million inhabitants have to rely on borewells and tankers for their water because there isn't enough mains supply to go round. Most of the city's municipal water is supplied by the Cauvery river, whose waters flow through Karnataka and neighbouring Tamil Nadu state before emptying into the Bay of Bengal, and have been bitterly disputed for more than a century. Two years ago, an order to release extra water from the river to ease a shortage threatening crops in Tamil Nadu sparked deadly protests in Bangalore that forced hundreds of companies to close. Last month the Supreme Court stepped in, altering the river-sharing arrangement in Karnataka's favour citing Bangalore's dire need.Ecologist Ramachandra says Bangalore has enough annual rainfall to provide water for its estimated 10 million people without resorting to borewells or rivers -- if only it could harvest the resource more effectively. "If there is a water crisis, we should not think about river diversion. We should think about how to retain the water," he said, blaming "fragmented, uncoordinated governance" for the crisis. As in the rest of India though, there is little incentive for citizens to save water. Despite years of drought, the government still provides clean water to citizens at heavily subsidised rates and access to groundwater is largely unregulated. "In Bangalore 1,000 bottles of the cleanest treated water comes to our doorstep and we pay only six rupees (about nine cents)... the incentive is not there," says A.R. Shivakumar, a senior scientist with the Karnataka State Council of Science and Technology. Despite this, Shivakumar and his family have not used a single drop of mains water in the 23 years they have lived at their home in Bangalore. Instead they rely entirely on rainwater collected through gutters and stored in large tanks under the house, which Shivakumar designed with water efficiency in mind. Even the cement used to build it was made with recycled water. His work setting up rainwater harvesting at bus stops, in slum housing and even along the city's metro system proved so effective that city authorities now require all new housing developments to have inbuilt systems. "This crisis will force everyone to take up measures like rainwater harvesting and water conservation measures," he told AFP. "The new generation have shown a lot of concern toward the environment and conservation measures. That will definitely take it forward. Awareness is already on the increase."

India's Silicon Valley faces man-made water crisis

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India: IT companies in Bengaluru lost over $28 million due to employees stuck in traffic jams

India's Silicon Valley faces man-made water crisis