Waterlogging & traffic jams in Bengaluru following early morning showers
Bengaluru (PTI): Waterlogging and traffic jams were reported in various parts of the city on Monday following early morning showers.
Peak hour traffic jams and inundated roads in several areas, especially in the northern and eastern parts of the city, particularly inconvenienced office-goers and school-going children.
Areas such as Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Nagawara Junction and Hebbal, and Veerasandra on the Electronics City road, parts of Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road, were severely affected, official sources said.
Heavy waterlogging was witnessed on ORR at Marathalli, Karthik Nagar and Kalyan Nagar, Puttenahalli, Varthur Kodi, Panathur Main Road, among others, they said, adding, efforts have been made to restore free movement of traffic.
Some houses and residential layouts in low lying areas were affected by waterlogging and water gushing into the premises, officials said. Several underpasses were also inundated.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also in-charge of Bengaluru development, visited some of the rain-affected areas to assess the situation.
"If water has entered apartments and houses, let's rectify it. We want the ground water levels to increase," he said.
Noting that areas around Bengaluru like Ramanagra, Channapatna, Kanakapura, Magadi, Tumakuru, Kunigal and Kolar have not received good rains, he further said: "Malnad, coastal and other places have received rains so that dams are filled, but here rains are not enough, ground water levels have to increase."
Bangalore South MP and BJP leader Tejasvi Surya said the waterlogging and flooding in Bengaluru, after a few hours of rain in the early morning, once again exposed the absence of municipal leadership in the city.
"For long, we have implemented band-aid solutions to Bengaluru's traffic problem and poor urban infra, instead of approaching it from the perspective of a well-structured town planning body. Such solutions only fix the symptom and is not the remedy for the problem itself, he posted on 'X'.
He said 'Brand Bengaluru' stands for technology innovation, unmatched talent pool and rich local culture, but sadly, "only the traffic, water logging, potholes and garbage management issues seem to be marking our brand."
"I had highlighted how the city lacks a directly-elected mayor with a workable term of 3-5 years who can be held accountable for the city's urban infra. Global cities like London, New York and Paris have such strong powerful mayors looking solely into the city's needs," Surya said.
He said the Congress government has neither taken any step to form the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority nor has it delegated traffic engineers any power to plan the traffic management of the city. "Unless we take up town planning and rework on our layouts, 'Brand Bengaluru' will remain a dream."
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
