Articles by Dr Ajaya S Bharadwaja

Google Earth image from 2000 that shows a realistic view of elevation and valley in Kodichikkanahalli area. Recent actions by the government to clear the drainage encroachments in the IT city have proved to be a tough incident both for the administration and to the individuals. Though people getting their plans approved or Khata documents can be attributed to the dark side of the administration as well as of the individual dweller, there are certain genuine innocent cases that are heart-breaking. In the city considered to be IT capital of the country, where a normal cab driver reaches a completely…

With the absence of major rivers, floods in Bengaluru are caused only by rainfall. Knowing which are the months that are vulnerable to floods helps in taking necessary precautions. Primary rainy season in the city is from June to September when Bengaluru receives rain from South-West Monsoon, and secondary rainy season is from November to December when it receives rain from North-East Monsoon. Here is the raw data for rainfall in 100 years, from 1901 to 2000. This exhaustive data is plotted in graphs for each month.    100 years rainfall graph for the month of January  100 years rainfall…

The first part of this series looked at how Bengaluru expanded it self over the years, and how it has affected urban flood scenario in the city. This part explores how the surface water bodies have diminished and its effect on the flood scenario of Bengaluru city. By now you would know that Majestic bus station was a lake once - Dharmambudhi lake. And that Bengaluru was a land of lakes once. What changed this, and why? In a city like Bengaluru, lakes assume special importance. They provide lung space, groundwater recharge, biodiversity and recreational activities like boating and fishing.…