Heavy Rains, Water Logging Disrupt Startup Operations In Bengaluru

Unacademy founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal took to Twitter on Tuesday (August 6) to share how his family was being evacuated on a tractor after heavy rains submerged several localities and apartment societies in Bengaluru.

“Family and my Pet Albus has been evacuated on a Tractor from our society that’s now submerged. Things are bad. Please take care,” his post on the social media platform read.

However, Munjal was not the only startup founder to report such an issue as heavy rains and water logging brought parts of India’s Silicon Valley to a halt. Arjun Mohan, CEO of upGrad, told a publication on Monday (August 5) that he had to take a tractor to reach his office while the Bellandur area in south Bengaluru looked like an island.

While Bengalureans almost always take pride in the soothing climatic conditions of the city, the current situation is quite the opposite, with people across the city, including startup founders, employees, and IT professionals, complaining about poor infrastructure.

The last few days have been nightmarish for people in different parts of Bengaluru – from slums to tech parks. The Outer Ring Road Companies Association, which represents startups and corporate businesses with a combined revenue of $22 Bn and employing over 10 Lakh people, wrote to Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai last week complaining about the difficulties being faced due to rains and water logging. 

Flooding in the area on August 30 led to a loss of about INR 225 Cr as staff were stuck on the road for over five hours, it said.

“Even though only 30% of ORR (Outer Ring Road) population has returned to working from office, the collapse of the infrastructure has drawn global concern on the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle further growth,” the association’s letter to the CM said.

Ishaan Mittal, managing director of venture capital (VC) firm Sequoia Capital, also took to Twitter on Tuesday to share his unpleasant experience. 

“It’s horrific to experience the bottom (hopefully) of Bangalore’s infrastructure. Today we had to evacuate our apartment along with 300 other families. Society (In Yemlur) has no electricity and water,” he wrote, adding that two basements in the society were filled with water and many cars were stuck inside.

Startup Operations Take A Hit

Electric three-wheeler manufacturer Altigreen Propulsion Labs, which has its facility and office in Whitefield, one of the most affected areas in the city, told Inc42 that the rains and the subsequent water logging have affected its operations.

The startup is facing issues as its factory workers are not able to reach for shift operations in time, its founder and CEO Amitabh Saran said. 

“The entire company staff ensured that inventory and finished goods were adequately protected but there are significant issues in the safe transportation of goods to and from Bengaluru,” he added.

Meanwhile, Inc42 has learnt that ecommerce platform Myntra sent an email to its employees on Sunday, asking them to work from home until further notice. Several other startups in Bellandur and ORR area have also asked their employees to work from home.

Wheelocity, a supply chain network enabler for fresh products, told Inc42 that calamities like this bring out the real use case of quick commerce and ecommerce deliveries.

“The last-mile logistics have been challenging during these flood situations yet we have been able to manage the upstream (mid-mile logistics) operations fairly well with minimal disruptions because of proactive preparations from our side,” said Selvam VMS, founder and CEO of Wheelocity.

“While there is no taking away from the fact that last-mile logistics has indeed taken a hit, we are committed to getting back up and running even on the last-mile side as early as possible,” he added.

The flood-like situation led to citizens criticising the state government, both past and present, and the local authorities, with many even questioning if it would affect the investments in the tech capital of India.

Meanwhile, CM Bommai on Tuesday said that the city hasn’t witnessed the rains seen this year in the last 90 years. However, the government is trying its best to bring normality to the city and ensure that such incidents don’t recur in the future.