The directions are part of a report the North Corporation has submitted to the Lokayukta, which had taken up the issue suo motu after years of complaints from residents.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The North Corporation in the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) limits has given Manyata Tech Park and surrounding companies 10 days to start building a long-delayed storm-water drain meant to stop the repeated flooding.
Until this work is completed, the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) has decided not to issue any new building permits to the tech park in key sections or survey areas in Nagavara.
Besides, a one-month deadline has been given to the four companies and property owners around the tech park to finish all the pending storm-water drain work meant to stop flooding in the area.
Warning by officials
Officials have warned that if the companies fail to carry out the work, the civic body would demolish whatever portions are necessary to restore the waterflow and recover the entire cost from the companies.
To fix this, the Disaster Management Department has ordered three key drain links to be built, including an additional connection through the internal road network inside the Manyata Tech Park.
The officials, however, claimed that “rivalry between the companies” has slowed progress, with each group accusing the other, while residents continue to suffer flooding every monsoon.
The officials have also proposed a new canal running from the south of the tech park to the north, passing between Manyata and Karle Town Centre before joining the main canal. Measurements were being taken for this, and designs would be finalised accordingly, the officials added.
Report to Lokayukta
These directions form part of a report the North Corporation has submitted to the Lokayukta, which had taken up the issue suo motu after years of complaints from residents.
According to the officials, the flooding around the tech park was not just due to heavy rain, but was the result of a drain that vanished from the map.
“Decades ago, a natural storm-water drain carried rainwater from Nagavara and surrounding layouts towards the Hebbal Main Canal. Over time, this land was classified as B kharab (government land not meant for cultivation) and later allotted to private owners. Those allotments covered the very path where the drain once ran. As buildings came up on this land, the drain’s route was completely wiped out,” an official said.
Since the original channel no longer exists, rainwater has nowhere to go. Inspections by officials from the KIADB, the Revenue Department and the GBA also found that many existing drains around the tech park were blocked, narrowed or ended abruptly. Several stretches that once carried water are now built over, and even average rainfall results in flooding of roads, basements and sections of tech park.
The officials have directed that no construction plan, public or private, can be approved in future without a factual report on nearby lakes, drains and government land. This is to stop drains from being blocked or built over, as happened at the Manyata tech park.
Published – November 29, 2025 07:56 pm IST
