Your Rain Experience Next  Thu Oct 27 16:47:32 2005 Name: Masood Ali Email: ali_testing@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: From past one week Bangaloreans had a very bad experience, the traffic jams and every where there is a water to Knee level, its very difficult to ride a bike. Thu Oct 27 16:50:51 2005 Name: subahan Sukumar Tondaladinne Proddatur Email: t_subahan@rediff.com Rain Experience: I am working in Bangalore. I was in J.P. Nagar I am staying in Marutinagar. On the rainy day of 25/10/05 it took one hour to travel the 2.5 kms distance itself. Road was full of water I got totally wet. Govt. should do some thing to protect damaging name of Bangalore. Thu Oct 27 16:50:52 2005 Name: Manish Email: lrmanish@gmail.com Rain Experience: Well, whatever we suffer daily is explained by many people in India as they face and published across the media. I wish people like deva gowda and Dharam singh get struck in the Rain for Hours in Traffic jam. Theys should feel the pain of Pregnant ladies and emergency patients getting struck in between the Worst infrastructure in blore where during a slight rain, the traffic moves only inch by inch. They should face this wrath when they are not well and being taken for care to hospitals....... Thu Oct 27 16:51:11 2005 Name: ramya Email: ramsy5@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: when people are highly frustrated with whatever is happening evrywhere.. u want them to write their experiences.;dont u think this is very sadistic... atleast let things cool down...u people just want news.;and thats it.;this is ridiculous!!!! Thu Oct 27 16:51:34 2005 Name: subahan Sukumar Tondaladinne Proddatur Email: t_subahan@rediff.com Rain Experience: I am working in Bangalore. I was in J.P. Nagar I am staying in Marutinagar. On the rainy day of 25/10/05 it took one hour to travel the 2.5 kms distance itself. Road was full of water I got totally wet. Govt. should do some thing to protect damaging name of Bangalore. we had no power for 12 hours in our house. Thu Oct 27 16:58:11 2005 Name: kapil Pokharna Email: kapil_pokh@yahoo.com Rain Experience: I go to work on my own vehicle and roads in bangalore are in pathetic state. Government should take some responsibility and do something about making lives of people easy in bangalore , the city which used to give pride for the residents but now a days people think of finding ways of escaping from bangalore. Just because of govt negligence. Please help all the residents of bangalore , media should help people and raise our voice to the deaf ears... Thu Oct 27 17:26:35 2005 Name: Nimesh Email: nimeshg@indiatimes.com Rain Experience: Bangalore road have become worst after rain hits the ground of Bangalore, all drainage water is flooding out on roads and swiming is not a problem but swiming back home in rain water along with sewage water is like nightmare for the Bangaloreans. Imagine the situation couple of months ago when people from the lower riparian states cried for water and they had to wait to this day.Instead of crying foul about teh nature's fury, one has to appreciate that they have atleast surplus amount of water to manage in the coming months.GOD can only give rain,its the administration that is solely responsible for managing floods. regards, murali Thu Oct 27 17:26:35 2005 Name: M.Gopalakrishnan Email: rajumgk@engineer.com Rain Experience: Rupee Dreams !! Lured by Rupee Dream and a cosmopolitan life self and family migrated to Bangalore from Dharwad From Day One I had to stretch myself to get a foothold in Bangalore. Rentals exhorbitant! Five times of Dharwad Rent.So what you do.Take a house in CMC area in the outskirts. Independant house in a developing area.Lorries carrying construction materials zip up and down 24*7*365 No respite. No guardian for infrastructure.Corporator not to be seen around.May be busy making up connections!! Road apology at am extreme end.No drainage. Rains, you had it.Mud Road very slippery and you walk with prayer on your lips.Pools of water every where.If you have a 2W or 4W that is the end of it.You can skid / get into a gutter.Life goes on at its worst.Yes I am talking about Bangalore and in Bangalore Doddanekundi. Given an option would like to relocate to a smaller city and forget my rupee dreams !!!! Goowda the saviour of Bangalore alone can save Bangaloreans!!!!!!!!!! Thu Oct 27 17:26:37 2005 Name: Rajesh Iyer Email: rajeshiyre@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: On 25th , Bangalore was totally devastated by the incessant rainfall that spoiled the normal life. It took 3 hours 15 minutes to reach my home from my office , which otherwise would hardly take 10 minutes. It is not unusual that people complain about Bangalores poor infrastructure. But Bangalore was EXPOSED on that day , that if cannot withstand even a 10 cm rainfall , leave alone the 99+ cm rainfall , tha happened in Mumbai ! Bangalore - Time is running out ! Thu Oct 27 17:26:41 2005 Name: Kamesh Krishnan Email: kamesh_sk@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: Rain in chennai was a good thing.Though it have its own side effects like,water borne diseases,blocked sewages,potholes roads ,power supply cut,etc., etc., it is always better ...Instead of boring the earth upto its core and sea water mixing with ground water and paying 3000 for a truck load of water,,,,that too u have to struggle for it,,,it is better to have good rains.I would be much happier if chennai people had made the best use of this precious rain water by doing proper rain water harvesting.But many people did not do it properly,,That hurts me a lot...So shower to chennai is welcomed,no matter it is heavy or light..But we people in chennai need the precious rain Thu Oct 27 17:31:22 2005 Name: kvharikrishnan Email: kvharikrishnan2001@yahoo.com Rain Experience: Sir, Today i.e.27/10/2005, I woke up at 6 AM in my room and found that my building is surrounded by water. I waited till 9 AM and started for work. All along the roads it was heavy water flow and I was walking with knee deep water to catch the bus. Once I boarded the bus it was like raining in the bus through their holes. Every road that leads to my office i.e. mount road is full of water upto the second stand. Once I reached liitle mount there was chaos as from all the 6 directions buses were straned. I walked two kns with rain and reached office. K.V.Hari Krishnan Thu Oct 27 17:31:22 2005 Name: Peyush Mishra Email: peyush.kumarmishra@ge.com Rain Experience: I am from bangalore. i knew that it had rained all through previous two days. I woke up early morning on monday. I left home at usual time of 8.0 am. As soon as i boarded into the bus i felt some heat in the fellow passengers. Guys were just celling domebody and then going to the driver and saying where to go. Then i realized something has happened. Believe me, whole of the bangalore was in pain. Water all around, traffic jams, floods etc etc. that day it took 3 hours to reach to my office which usually is 1 hour atmost. The same day in the evening it took 4 hours to come back from work. Frankly speaking what i feel is that GOD IS TESTING US ON OUR CRISIS MANAGEMENT. Peyush Thu Oct 27 17:53:01 2005 Name: Pawan Kumar Jha Email: pkjha@kwglobal.com Rain Experience: My wife has given birth to a cute little baby on last monday, I did plan to visit her n the baby on coming sunday,and celebrate this Diwali with double happiness - but all seems to be washed away..... as the condition of the rain in Chennai and the coastal belts of AP seems to be worse so much that I wont be able to see my Baby, as the train and flights both are cancelled.........I work in a web publishing copany in Chennai as Manager, where we are able to send any amount of big files to our Clients within minutes, but NATURE has stopped me to cover a distance of few thousands km's.......this questions me to think that are we really developed enough to be called a SUPER POWER !!!!!!!! Can any one help me to make me meet my wife and my new born baby????????????????????? Thu Oct 27 18:02:22 2005 Name: Prasad Babu D Email: prasadbabu_donda@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: Just simple.... I actually enjoyed the rain during my travel to office today. Usually it takes 1 Hr 30 min to 2 Hrs to commute.. But today, it took 6 Hrs for me to reach office ( located in Tambaram Santorium ) South Chennai.. from my home ( located in Old washermenpet ) North Chennai (approx 35 KM distance). As usual, I started at around 7:20 AM from home and reached Chennai - Beach railway station at around 8 AM. (Usually it takes just 10-15 min to reach).... The Railway Officials were anouncing that trains will stand cancelled for some hours due to tracks immersed under 1-2 feet water..... Luckily, i got into a bus that goes to Tambaram at around 8:30 AM and reached office around 1:15 PM..... Between Saidapet Bus Stop and Guindy round tana ( a stretch of 1.5 KM ), it took 2 Hrs 15 min to cross this stretch... and that's the horrible part of my travel today..... Usually, it takes 5-10 min to cross this place. Now in office, not planning to go home for today. May be will go to my friends place near by... After so long, Chennaiites are remembered by the rain gods... and most chennaiites welcome it... Thu Oct 27 18:25:29 2005 Name: Snehal Sampat Email: snehal_sampat@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: This was the first time in 36 years I have experienced something like this. 26th July in Mumbai ! I and my wife had gone to Breach Candy from Ghatkopar for shopping and luckily did not buy anything that particular day. From there we reached Fountain to finish other shopping. While on the way to Fountain I received a call from my family member that it would be better that we start for home as someone told them that trains are closed already due to heavy rains. It was around 2:30 in the afternoon. So we decided to take AC Bus A4 which starts from Fountain to avoid hassels. We had to wait till 3:30 for the bus to arrive. We managed to get seat for both of us as there was little crowd. The bus started its journey towards destination but to our surprise everywhere there was traffic jam. Worst was around Opera House & Nana Chowk to start with. We thought may be due to rains traffic is there but we will reach Ghatkopar by night at least. the bus kept inching slowly rather very slowly. Somehow after a few hours we reached Shivaji Park and learnt that bus has not taken its original route to Tilak Bridge instead it is going towards Mahim. Upon querying with conductor we learnt that Tilak Bridge was already closed for water looging or traffic. No on knew what was happening. The bus also was full of passengers standing which is an unusal site in AC Bus. After several hours our bus was diverted to Flyover between Matunga Western and Matunga Central. Approach road to bridge was quite vacant surprisingly and all of us were happy that once we cross the bridge we can reach faster. But .... when on the top of bridge we saw Tulsi Pipe road below and could not trust our eyes that there can be so much of water. As we were reaching end of the bridge we saw our bus entering a lake. Already 4-5 BEST Buses were waiting there as got water inside their engines. Luckily our conductor and few of passengers kept on telling the driver do not stop at all, if you stop our bus also will stop and keep raising the accelerator. This was ok for our bus but for the slums and people walking through water it was nightmare as it was making big waves in the water. Suddenly some people started throwing a few things on our bus as water was going in their huts with big wave and their huts were already submerged. If our bus had stopped there I don't think we would have been alive as water level was I suppose more than chest height. It was pitch dark as there was no electricity and everyone had mobile but no one could get through their calls anywhere. After wading through the water our bus came on Eastern Express Highway from Sion Hospital and we were bit happy that now road looks clear and we will reach. But when bus came on the top of the flyover it just stopped as there was no place to go further because of traffic jam. After sitting at one place we got down from the bus and started walking towards end of the bridge and we could not trust our eyes that we could not see Highway it was only water and traffic jam on both sides. Still thousands of people were walking through that chest deep water with help of lamp posts on the dividers.We did not have guts to walk in the water so we decided to go back to our bus and sit there. Ultimately we had to sleep in the AC Bus. The bus being AC Bus driver turned the fans on and AC had already failed. Fans brought some relief. The driver and conductor closed the door of the bus in night and they also slept inside the bus. In the morning we got up rather just opened the eyes and decided that we should try and walk to our home but water level was same at the end of the bridge so we decided to try and get tea if possible and some biscuits so we came near Sion cirlce and lukily could buy a few things as some shops were open. We trid getting a room in nearby hotels but obviously they were all full. We were just exhausted by now and just blank that what we should do. We managed to make a call to our family members through MTNL public booth and told them not to worry. We were just thinking that we will have to spend another night on the road. But heard some people saying water level has receded and heavy vechicles are now moving towards Chunabhatti. We got excited and went near the highway again and saw the traffic moving out slowly. the problem was a lot of abandoned small cars etc.We were bit wise and walked the complete traffic jam and boarded the first bus in the queue. And when bus started moving through the water there was only shouts of Ganapati Bappa Morya. From Chunabhatti to Amar Mahal the road was fully logged with water. It was very nice to see all people helping each other and lots of social workers guiding the bus to go from the traffic. Thats why Mumbai is special in its spirits. One who has lived in Mumbai does not like to live anhywhere in the World. At least I have not seen or heard any bad incidence on that night. So many ladies and girls were also stuck in floods but they were only helped by people. Long Live Mumbai and Mumbai's Spirit. The journey of 20 odd Kms. which normally takes 2 hours took us 24 hours exactly that time. Thank God we are still alive to narrate this. Thu Oct 27 18:32:05 2005 Name: Ashish Tewari Email: ashish205@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: Tuesday, July 26 5 pm P's calling. He says that Andheri's flooding, we should make a move if we want to get home. The news is nothing very great; very heavy rains, predicted over the next day or two. It had gotten dark during the afternoon with some heavy nimbus pile-up; but I'm not expecting it to get that bad. 6 pm - Lower Parel Buddha is saying that we should walk. Trains have stopped, and the Senapati Bapat flyover is rock-solid with jammed cars. And of course, today is the day that I have worn formals and leather shoes. Buddha's gone a step better in leaving his umbrella in the train. Walking up from ITC, I'm passing over Lower Parel station. 3 feet of water on the tracks; a black snake of humanity weaving through the water, being cheered on by crowds lining the platform, overbridge and flyover. Gladiatorial. An elderly bald man trips over a rail, falls face-down, struggles back to his feet. Huge appreciative roar from the audience. 7 pm - Dadar Taking the flyover had been a good idea, but we're back at ground level now, and the crowds are back with a vengeance. Where above, it was jammed silent cars and bewildered faces - it must have been the first time many of them were experiencing a traffic jam where people actually turned off the engines - now, it's thousands - tens of thousands - jostling umbrellas in knee-deep water. Some cars are still struggling to get through. Buddha says is reminds him of a buffalo migration in the Serengeti, where millions of animals push through the rivers. And the wet umbrellas actually do resemble the glistening hides of a giant wildebeest herd. People are in high spirits; I remember a drunk or insane trio from the afternoon who climbed the fallen tree in front of our office and wailed up at the sky and the rain. I'm having a nasty feeling they knew more than I did about what's in store. 8 pm - Mahim We detour into Sitladevi Temple Road, it looks drier. The phone calls have started coming hard and fast now; I think the news must have started flashing warnings; people have realized the trains are dead and are checking the road conditions. A lot of people had decided to wait in the offices; not a very good idea. The later you stay, the later you're stuck. Stop for a chai at Sektra; God bless Four Square. Stock up on cigarettes. A group of Sektra telecallers is arguing with the public at the payphones phoning previliges to be extended to single working women trapped far beyond their office hours. The tea's going to be a problem later, though; especially with the rain and the temperature drop. 9 pm - Bandra Water's not even ankle-deep now. Walking should have been easy, but isn't, because of a unique feature of the road here; the left side is slightler higher than the right, maybe because of repair work. The result is at every break in the divider, the scenery moves back at walking pace, the crowd keeps pace and the road seems to flow sideways at high speed. Disorienting. We pass the Ruias' Hummer trying to make it's way to Phoenix; best of luck. At least they can stretch out and sleep when they get trapped. God it's a big car. We're going to pick up a large pepperoni and a cheese 'n chicken from Pizza Hut in Juhu. The imagined sight and smell of the pizza is like a lodestar in my head now. Shining like a Star In The East. 10 pm - Khar / Santacruz Interesting change. Water is waist-deep, and all BEST buses have been diverted onto Linking road (SV Road became impassable some time ago) and now Linking's flooded out as well. We're walking between silent hulks parked not even 3 inches apart. All electricity has been cut to avoid live wires in the water; the only light is from the headlights and blinkers of cars, shining underwater. Everything has a greenish cast. A lot of alarms, horns and wipers are shorting; there's a low, continuous, sublimial sound of urban industrial disaster. Some people are still in their cars. Scared, hopeless faces in the domelights. Once in a while something soft and slimy brushes past your legs; you just have to hope it's branches ripped off the trees, rather than any visitors from the Arabian Sea. Or the Bandra and Mahim waste dumping pipe denizens. The networks are completely jammed; and nothing causes more panic here, today, than being cut off. We stop briefly to answer all our missed calls during a brief lull in the rain; a large kid with a Bandra accent asks us if he could call. He doesn't get through, of course; he walks - wades - away with a distinct tremor in his voice, reassuring himself more than us that he'll be home in ten minutes. We know better. But we still have a slightly longer way to go. 11 pm - Juhu Water's gone. The entire Juhu Tara stretch is practically bone-dry compared to what was; for the first time we're walking without sloshing up water. Traffic is completely gone now, which is quite surprising; I had expected dry stretches like this to be choked with cars. The Marriott is blazing with light, inside and external; a miniature sun in the middle of nowhere, all orange warmth and welcome, surrounded by the sound and smell of the sea and the rain. I see a woman standing in the portico, silhouetted against the lobby lights, looking out into the darkness, and I have a rush of longing to just walk in, into the soft dry beds and hot food. We settle for a cig instead in the shade of a closed restaurant. Pizza Hut's closed; morale plummets harder than it ever had in the entire trip. Half an hour and a really long and satisfying leak later, we're sitting in the one eatery still open, the Juhu Barista. The counter is completely bare except for one extraordinarily rich-looking chocolate cake. And even after seventeen kilometers and four hours, hungry, cold and wet, I can understand why. It's screaming "Calories! Fat! Rich! Evil! Eat me and regret it for a week!" There's a sardar who's been waiting for six hours for the rain to stop, a couple who I don't think is even aware that it's raining and flooding in the world beyond their table, a couple disassembling their cellphones all over the counter, much to the dismay of the staff, and four people who sound like Prithvi crowd. The coffee was the best I've had in a year; time to move again. 12 am - Andheri West Suddenly, chest-deep water. This is the highest yet, and while there are stranded cars, there's almost no human presence. Near-pitch darkness; by now, the car batteries have died, and every vehicle is literally dead in the water. In the Khar-Bandra stretch, every second car flashed it's blinkers in the water; here, it's one in maybe twenty. The darkness; with no traffic, all buildings blacked out and occupants either stranded or asleep, cars dead... there's a faint glow coming from the sky, a very faint grayish light. I guess it's the moon behind the clouds; must be full tonight. That might also account for the water, to an extent... the high tide would be at it's strongest. Once in a while we pass a couple, or a small group, quietly wading past. There's complete silence now, compared to the boisterousness of the Dadar crowd, and the complaining chatter of Bandra, or even the quiet conversation of Juhu. You can smell fear coming off these people; nobody travelling alone anymore. You can also smell something else. The top layer of the water here, now that it's risen above the cars, is also letting the petrol seep upwards out of the tanks, and spread out. This place is a deathtrap waiting to be sprung; add some more people, stop the rain, and some idiot would light a cigarette and immolate the suburbs. This is a yin-yang of potential deaths; fire and water, side by side. It's a graveyard as well, a haunted house the size of a locality. We pass an Elantra, a Sonata, three Corollas and and Merc lying abandoned, theirs doors hanging open. A couple at a crossing with a fading, stuttering torch, hanging onto each other and shouting out into the darkness "Prachi... Prachi..." They sound like they've been shouting for a while. Maybe they're crying; it's too dark to tell. Another couple walks with us for a while; they had been walking from Grant Road, and were half out of their heads. The guy is carrying a high-end cellphone with a very LOUD irritating ringtone, which keeps ringing almost all the while. We lose them somewhere around Chandan. 1 am - Veera Desai Knee-deep water made my thighs ache. Waist-deep water strains your back, with your upper body swaying while your legs are stable. chest-deep water is relaxing, where you just bounce along reeeeeeally slowly. But now, I've lost most feeling in my lower body. There's just a wooden ache. The tide is on it's way out, and the water's draining from Andheri back into the sea; it was ok till now, because we were walking parallel to the sea, but now we have to walk against it. And it's a really strong current; I can barely keep enough traction on my feet to stop being swept away. Like walking up an outflow pipe. This is the hardest - and slowest - part of the walk; barely fifty feet from our gate, it takes us almost a quarter of an hour to get in. 2 am - Flat 403 B Go inside. Get camera. Go back down. Try a couple of shots but too dark; damn. Why don't I carry this thing every time something clickworthy happens? Go back. Shower. Change. I am dry! Dry! Dry! Masala Maggi. Stretch out and sleep. They declared the next 48 hours an emergency off. Thu Oct 27 18:34:02 2005 Name: narasimha raju Email: nraju@rediffmail.com Rain Experience: I am narasimha raju, working in bangalore for an I.T.Training company. Sunday night i had started from bangalore to dindigul. last 3 days i have travelled a lot between trichy, dindigul and pudukottai in the rains as my job was of high priority. i saw lot of paddy fields and other crops badly inundated in water. In trichy, chatram bus stand where my company's branch is there, my experience is horrible. it's one and half - two k.m. away from the banks of river cauvery. Srirangam nearby satellite township and chatram busstand in trichy are completely inundated and there was no possibility of work happening. i started back to bangalore in tanjore - mysore express yesterday night. the whole way till i have crossed erode jn. was very horrible. people are lying shelterless. Our train reached bangalore 3 hrs late in the morning which generally doesn't happen with this train. one more shower in these areas or above mettur dam in karnataka will definitely create a huge loss for government and people Thu Oct 27 18:34:41 2005 Name: Chenthil Email: Chenthilnathan@gmail.com Rain Experience: Chennnai under Water Thursday, October 27, 2005 It has been raining since 6.00 PM Oct 26th in Chennai. We closed office early and sent everybody home. I thought the rains would subside in the morning. But now it is 10.00 AM Oct 27th and rains have not stopped. I took a risk and came to Office, there is no body else here. TTK road is flooded, water up to hip level. Same with many of the suburbs. I took Mount Road, fairly clear except for the service lanes. Service lanes are ankle deep in water. Many trees have fallen down, one opposite to Peters Road junction, one on either side of Munro Statue. Till Madras Medical College the road was clear. In front of the Park Station the road was flooded. Hence went up to Central, took the Evening Bazaar Road and joined NSC Bose Road. The Flower Bazaar Area again was flooded, travelling in my Activa felt like travelling in a water scooter. With only buses plying on the road, each bus was creating waves that make navigating a two wheeler a hazardous affair :-). Some how crossed that and am in Office now, all alone except for the watchman. The rains show no sign of stopping. All Schools and colleges and offices have declared a holiday. So why did I come to office? Partly because my dad at the age of 57 promptly went to his factory. And whoever says we stop comparing ourselves with our dads is kidding :-). Update :11.30 AM: Still no sign of rains abating. A couple of staff have turned up with stories of all electric trains cancelled, more streets flooded. Update :12.30 PM: It is still raining. All buses are off the road, no power supply in parts of Alwarpet, Teynampet, Kilpauk, Beasant Nagar. Corporation authorities are advicing people to stay off the roads. Update :03.00 PM: The rain has reduced in intensity, but still continuing. Heard that Red Hills Lake is overflowing and the adjoining areas like Bharathi Nagar, Vyasarpadi are getting flooded. No way to confirm this. Next