Floods, red alerts, submersions, diversions: It’s raining misery

Heavy weekend rains led to long traffic jams and diversions on Monday, due to the flooding on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway near Ramanagara. As a result, celebration plans for the Ganesha and Gowri festivals have been hampered or altered.

Actor Suraj Gowda was one of the many who wanted to celebrate in his hometown, Mysuru, but had to change the route because of the flooded Bengaluru-Mysuru national highway.
Suraj says, “As soon as I heard the news of the traffic jams on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, I headed towards Kanakapura Road to reach Mysuru. It took nearly four hours to reach the destination because roads are very narrow, and it was jampacked, with people desperate to reach Mysuru ahead of the festival.”
Some festive plans cancelled
Many people who wanted to travel to Mysuru and Mandya to celebrate the festival with their dear ones had to stay back in Bengaluru. “My parents and cousins stay in Mysuru. It’s that time of the year when we all get together. We had lowkey celebrations in the last two years due to COVID, so this time, we didn't want any of our family members to miss the festivities. But the rains dashed our celebrations,” says a techie Vinay T S.
Mysuru Road offices hit
Some people, whose offices are situated on the highway, had a tough Monday morning. A marketing professional at a manufacturing unit shares, “Our office is near Kumbalgodu and there were videos and news of diversions, jams and submersions floating around. We felt that there was a little extra chaos caused by social media forwards and some visual news reportage. It did take a long time to get to work.”
After a hiatus of two years, the government had given a green signal to instal pandals to keep Ganesha idols in public areas. But the rains proved a dampener for artistes who were looking to make hay during the festival.
“If the rains had held till the festivities were over, we would have had good business since big-sized Ganesha idols are kept in public areas. However, there are people who instal Ganeshas on the festive day or a day after the festival, so we are still hoping,” says Kiran Balu, a Ganesha idol seller.
- Schools and colleges in Bengaluru were shut on Tuesday
- Many offices gave their employees the provision to work from home
- Festival shopping in some marketplaces were hit, due to rains on Monday night