Tejasvi Surya was heavily trolled after a video of his enjoying masala dosa at a Bengaluru restaurant while at some parts of the city, including the upscale Belandur locality, people were being rescued by tractors wading through flooded roads. “I am here in Padmanabhanagar to try out this ‘Benne Masala dosa’. I am loving this dosa and I also suggest you all try their Uppittu (Upma) as well. I am sure you all will love it too,” the video showed his as saying. The video was shared by Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal as well.

To further embarrass the MP, Congress workers offered to send 10 different dosas from various city restaurants through the popular app Dunzo, which Surya claimed he never got. He sought to give it back to Congress saying ‘They can’t deliver a dosa properly and they dream of delivering good governance!’.

The flood has not affected the crispness of masala dosa’s fame, but it has been a PR disaster for Brand Bengaluru, boasting Dubai-type glitzy towers to house India’s and the world’s IT giants. Residents of posh apartments ditching their homes to the safety of rescue vehicles presented a sorry sight that put a question mark over the infrastructure of the city aspiring to be in league with the world’s best cities of millionaires. Naturally, a royal blame game is on, and it has taken an ugly turn on the social media with the locals, mainly the saffron cyber warriors, advising the ‘outsiders’ that they are free to leave if they can’t tolerate the city’s constraints, little realising that it is these outsiders that have helped Bengaluru to be where it is today.

The ruling BJP thinks criticism of Bengaluru’s infrastructure is a direct attack on the party and its government, which of course it is. The haphazard expansion of the metropolis, with no thought whatsoever on the roads, traffic, walkways and support services makes it a nightmare for the residents. Bengaluru has become a symbol of ineptitude by those who are charge of managing a city, not to speak of corruption.

The companies on Outer Ring Road, including IT majors, had recently taken up the collapse of infrastructure in the city and hit out against the government for the waterlogging. The companies had told the government that flooding had caused Rs 225 crore damage along with reputational and economic harm to the city and the state.“The collapse of the infrastructure has drawn global concern on the city of Bengaluru’s ability to handle further growth. These companies will seek alternate destinations if the situation does not improve,” the Outer Ring Road companies’ association had said in a letter to government.

The government in its turn is now targeting the IT companies for the mess, saying they are responsible for whatever is happening in the city. Revenue minister R Ashoka said more than 30 IT companies had encroached on stormwater drains and that they are the ones now complaining about flooding. The minister had already created a storm earlier by blaming the companies for the city’s woes.

He said more than 30 IT companies have encroached storm water drains. “They were talking big but many of these companies and builders have encroached. We won’t spare anyone, no question of giving time to anyone,” the minister said.

The Bengaluru civic body has identified around 700 encroachments on the storm water drains across the city and these include some of the high-profile builders and IT majors, including Wipro, Prestige, Eco Space, Bagmane Tech Park, Columbia Asia Hospital and Divyashree Villas. It is obvious that these encroachments could not have been possible without support from politicians and the authorities.

Karnataka State Contractors Association, which had unsuccessfully complained to Prime Minister Modi about corruption in the state in the form of 40 percent kickback by ministers and officials, has again threatened to approach the prime minister for a solution. Modi is believed to have put the ball back to the court of the state government with a recommendation to ascertain the truth.

But unfortunately, rainwaters don’t wait for the truth to come out and that is Bengaluru’s biggest tragedy. (IPA Service)