Large-scale damage to power infrastructure in Bengaluru due to rain
BESCOM records Rs 65.3 crore loss this FY
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Bengaluru: Along with causing waterlogging and danger of inundation of houses, the heavy showers in Bengaluru have hit its power infrastructure on a large scale, with 1,465 electricity poles and 190 transformers being damaged this month.
Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) officials have estimated that an additional 600 to 700 poles might be damaged in the next 10 days. The areas under the limits of BESCOM recorded damage of 1,880 electricity poles and 151 transformers in April this year, due to rain. So far, BESCOM’s loss due to rain in the Financial Year 2025-26 is recorded to be Rs 65.3 crore, reports The Hindu.
In April this year, the city witnessed a threefold hike in damage to power poles, as against the damage in April 2024, when 558 poles were affected. While nine transformers were damaged in April 2024, the number increased drastically this year.
The increased intensity of wind and rain has caused the damage in April 2025, according to BESCOM officials. A senior officer added that intensive rainfall started in mid-April this year while in 2024 it was in the last week of the month. Additionally, the number of days when the city received heavy showers accompanied by forceful winds was also much higher this year, as compared to last year, he added, clarifying that, as a result, it would be difficult to compare the level of damage.
The officer also said that loosening of soil due to the civil works going on in Bengaluru has also led to the uprooting of trees. He explained that more than one power pole along a power line would be affected when one tree fell.
BESCOM has said that the problem during such weather had no permanent solution. The officer, however, said that they had contacted the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the Forest Department for pre-monsoon maintenance, as it would help alleviate the problem. He explained that the BBMP and Forest Department would take up the maintenance work in mid-January, with BESCOM providing manpower as well as financial and material assistance.
Experts, however, have stressed that a scientific approach towards maintenance and a successful implementation of both aerial and underground cables would be needed to prevent such damage.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
