Bengaluru water crisis affects city’s IT hub, employees push for work from home
Upstox
2 min read • Updated: March 20, 2024, 3:37 PM
Summary
The water crisis in Bengaluru has affected most parts of the city, including the Whitefield neighbourhood, where the headquarters of several global IT companies are located. This has prompted a number of IT firms to switch to the work-from-home mode. Experts suggest that this shift is likely to create some disruption in operations, as most of them had shunned the remote or hybrid model after the COVID-19 threat ebbed last year, experts suggest.
The ongoing water crisis in Bengaluru has not only affected households, but also businesses operating in the city. Among the areas that have been affected is the Whitefield neighbourhood, also referred to as the city’s IT hub, where several global software firms are located.
The water scarcity has pushed a number of companies to allow their employees to work virtually, reports said. At several firms, the staff has been demanding flexibility, including the option to work from home, in view of the hardship being faced by them due to the reduced supply of water.
“Even if the supply of water is manageable at our workplaces, there is a genuine shortage at our residential colonies,” said Ajay Nair, an IT professional, who stays in the Ambedkar Nagar locality close to Whitefield.
The companies that are switching to the work-from-home mode are likely to face some disruption in operations, as most of them had shunned the remote or hybrid model after the COVID-19 threat ebbed last year, experts suggest.
Notably, Bengaluru is facing a water crisis due to the deficit rainfall in Monsoon, which has led to a depletion in its water reservoirs. The rainfall in Karnataka was 18% lower than the long-term average.
The deficit is less as compared to the 25% below-average rainfall recorded in Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. However, the water stress is acute in Karnataka as aquifers – the portion of permeable rock that contains or transmits groundwater – stores less water in southern states, explained Vimal Mishra, a professor of Civil Engineering and Earth Sciences at IIT Gandhinagar.
“What this means is that groundwater resources are not able to sustain for very long in the event of a prolonged dry spell. This is very different from the aquifers in north India, which have a much better capacity to hold water,” Mishra told The Indian Express.
The crisis is further compounded in cities like Bengaluru, where the per-capita water usage is higher due to massive urbanisation. The city, home to global firms like Microsoft and IBM, also records a large influx of migrants to support the demand for tech workers.