BENGALURU: With water levels not receding even after two days of rain and some localities in the city continuing to resemble archipelagos, thousands of residents have been left with no water to drink or bathe as their underground tanks are filled with sewage.
When a TOI team visited the marooned Sri Sai Layout in Vaddarapalya (which had recorded 155mm of rainfall on Tuesday night) on Thursday, several residents, including kids and senior citizens, were seen wading through flooded roads with cans, covering a distance of over 1,000 metres to get drinking water for their families.
Ramesh, a contractor and resident, said: “It’s been three days and there is not even a single drop of water at home. The underground water sump is filled with raw sewage and is stinking. The water pump has also been severely damaged due to the silt. Tankers are refusing to come here and even if they do, there is no place to store the water. ”
Another resident said, “There are kids and senior citizens at home. For the past two days, there has been no water even to flush toilets. I have made about 10 trips to get water from a spot 500metres away while negotiating knee-deep water. Unable to judge the depth, I slipped and fell into the dirty water. All the drinking water cans have to be lifted to the terrace where we are staying for the time being. Ministers will come and go, but our situation will not change as I have been witnessing this for al- most a decade now. ”
While volunteers and BBMP officials carried food in tractors and distributed water bottles among the affected families, they hardly quenched their thirst. Sudharani, a resident of Horavamu-Agara, said, “A family of 5 or 6 persons is provided two or three 500ml bottles. It gets over in less than half an hour. One cannot go out as the water has not receded. There is a well in the compound but due to flooding, even that water has become turbid and unfit for use. ”
Even food packets elusive in some areas
In some localities, residents scrambled to get food packets too. “Whatever grocery we had stocked up for a month was washed away and is unfit for consumption even by animals. I have been waiting for officials to come and collect my credentials for payment of compensation.
Nobody has turned up, let alone supply food. Delivery boys refuse to come so far citing waterlogging. By the time volunteers reach this corner, the food packets would have been exhausted. Will BBMP officials provide us food after we die,” rued a resident.
MORE THAN 3K MEALS SERVED
TOI had reported about the plight of residents in Sri Sai Layout and Horamavu on Thursday. Moved by their ordeal, Akshaya Patra Foundation reached out to them — over 3,000 meals were served in Horamavu and Babusabpalya on Thursday evening. The foundation will be serving lunch on Friday. “While we served puliyogare for dinner, it’ll be tomato bath on Friday,” a volunteer said. A resident of Sri Sai Layout said, “We are thankful to TOI for highlighting our misery and getting locals much-required help. ”
