- Thursday, April 25, 2024
Called India’s Silicon Valley for hosting over 3,500 IT companies and start-ups, the southern city has witnessed arrival of millions of workers and a massive boom in real-estate construction over the past two decades.
By: Shubham Ghosh
Bengaluru, India’s information technology (IT) capital, may require nearly Rs 28 billion (£273 million) to restore a drainage network which has been damaged by brisk real-estate development as repeated floods threaten to derail work and life in the country’s IT hub, according to a report, Reuters said.
Called India’s Silicon Valley for hosting over 3,500 IT companies and start-ups, the southern city has witnessed the arrival of millions of workers and a massive boom in real-estate construction over the past two decades.
The report by Knight Frank, a global property consultancy, said Bengaluru’s share of built-up area increased from 37 per cent in 2002 to 93 per cent in 2020, leaving a “severe stress” on the natural drainage system that channelled water into its interconnected lakes.
The report projected a rise in population to 18 million by 2031 from an estimated 12.3 million last year. The area within the IT hub’s limits more than tripled to over 740 square kilometres in 2011 from what it was in 1995.
“Due to climate change, there has also been short duration, high intensity precipitation, further accentuating risks of flooding in the city amidst limited infrastructure to contain the same,” the report said, according to Reuters.
“This flood issue is happening every year. Forget about every year, every time it rains,” said Shantanu Mazumder, executive director for Bengaluru at Knight Frank India.
It could have an adverse effect on the real-estate market.
“From the buyers’ point of view, there is definitely a red flag when they see that there has been a past flooding issue, it’s a part of their buying due diligence,” Mazumder said at a recent event organised by the consultancy.
The report cited the example of Mumbai, another major Indian city, to urge Bengaluru’s local authorities to come up with a master plan to reduce water-logging in flood-prone areas and ensure free flow of stormwater.
