Bengaluru rains: 'Forgotten river' overflows near IT hub, hits traffic

BENGALURU: Dakshina Pinakini, a river running dry for over three decades and was all but forgotten by Bengalureans, on Wednesday overflowed following heavy rain in the catchment area. The impact was such that a portion of the busy Channasandra Main Road near the city's tech corridor was submerged in four feet flowing water, throwing traffic out of gear.
Channasandra Main Road, which starts from Hope Farm Junction near Whitefield and connects through Koralur with Hoskote and Malur, is flanked by over 25 villages that are slowly turning into residential pockets for those working in the tech sector.
It is also one of the important roads that facilitates movement of vegetables and fuel (from Devanagonthi oil marketing terminal) to the city on a daily basis.
When TOI visited the road on Wednesday morning, traffic had come to a halt near Koralur on both sides of the road as Dakshina Pinakini river was overflowing on the yet-to-beinaugurated bridge. Sonnegowda of Bhodhanahosahalli said: “We had not seen the river flowing like this in the past 30 years. It is quite dangerous.”
The river originates near Nandi Hills and flows through Chikkaballapur, Hoskote, Kadugodi, Sarjapur and Malur before meeting waters discharged from Bellandur and Varthur lakes to enter Tamil Nadu. It used to run dry till Malur for the past two decades and its existence was almost forgotten. On the reason for overflowing, Arun Kumar of Samethanahalli said: “It has been raining heavily in Chikkaballapur and Kolar.
Water has been flowing towards Yele Mallappa Shetty lake and Hoksote lake. Since both these lakes are full, their water is flowing into the otherwise dried river.” Arun Kumar, an agriculturist, said: “I was told the river used to flow like this 30-40 years ago. This a wake-up call for all of us.”