The Outer Ring Road Companies Associations (ORRCA) has submitted a letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai estimating that the recent flooding of the Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru caused a loss of Rs 225 crore to the firms represented by it. The ORRCA represents all major IT and banking companies on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) stretch
“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. Even though only 30% 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 (sic),” the letter read.
The letter by the organisation stated that poor infrastructure in this IT corridor is "putting employee safety and well-being at risk". “It is estimated that more than half a million professionals are employed along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Central Silk Board and K.R.Puram corridor and with various support services and indirect employment, this corridor which measures about 17 kms is providing employment close to one million people,” the letter read.
“In addition, member companies had to trigger emergency business continuity plans and work from home or pass on critical work to locations outside of Bengaluru and Karnataka, thus causing reputational and economic damage to the city and the State. This situation continues for the past 3 days and beyond,” the letter added.
The letter comes days after the Outer Ring Road was flooded in Bellandur and Sarjapur following overnight rains on August 29 and 30. Visuals of the flooding outside RMZ Ecospace were shared widely online with experts citing blocked stormwater drains, lack of infrastructure like culverts as the main reasons for the flood.
The ORRCA urged the Chief Minister to review the current gap in infrastructure in the corridor. "Expedite improvement projects on key arterial roads to ORR-e.g., Old airport road, ITPL road and Varthur road. They are regularly used by our staff/ general public and these have several underpass/flyover projects that are significantly delayed or cancelled," the letter read.
The ORRCA also urged the Chief Minister to expedite the metro project in the area after the 2020 timeline for the Whitefield and Electronic City metro line was not met. “It is in the collective interest of ORRCA and the government that Bengaluru infrastructure issues are addressed with a short midterm and longer-term view to sustain the growth, as these companies will seek alternate destinations if the situation does not improve,” the letter added.
