‘We cannot build great cities this way’: Sridhar Vembu explains why Bengaluru is always on the brink

As Bengaluru reels from one of its heaviest pre-monsoon spells in a decade, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has weighed in with a sobering reflection: “We cannot build great cities when we have a vast rural population desperate to migrate to overcrowded cities with broken and heavily overloaded infrastructure.”

Vembu’s comments come amid widespread flooding in India’s tech capital. Bengaluru recorded 130 mm of rainfall between Sunday evening and Monday morning—its second-highest in a decade. Roads turned into rivers, traffic came to a standstill, and key neighbourhoods like Koramangala, Marathahalli, and BTM Layout were left waterlogged and cut off.

Tragedy followed. A 35-year-old housekeeping staffer, Shashikala, died after a wall collapsed on her in Mahadevapura. In another part of the city, 63-year-old Manmohan Kamath and 12-year-old Dinesh were electrocuted while trying to pump out water from their flooded home.

As authorities scrambled to rescue stranded residents and restore services, Vembu turned the spotlight on a systemic failure that’s rarely addressed during such disasters. “Bengaluru aspires to join the first world,” he wrote, “but we have the harsh reality of a vast population in poverty whose vote depends on cash transfer schemes, even as rural joblessness leads to unchecked migration to Bengaluru.”

Bengaluru aspires to join the first world but we have the harsh reality of a vast population in poverty whose vote depends on cash transfer schemes, even as rural joblessness leads to unchecked migration to Bengaluru.

This is not a rant against politicians. My rural life has… https://t.co/SQOQBKu8vS

— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) May 20, 2025

He adds that this isn’t a political rant, but an observation shaped by his experience living in rural India. “The quality of life in Bengaluru depends crucially on how many people we succeed in not sending to Bengaluru from rural India.”

Meteorologists warn the worst may not be over. A rare storm pattern, with thunderclouds moving west to east—a direction uncommon for Bengaluru—has triggered an orange alert. A cyclonic circulation over the east-central Arabian Sea may intensify in coming days, with heavy rains expected until May 25.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar assured that officials were in the field addressing the crisis. “Irrespective of wherever we are, our duty is to save Bengaluru’s pride, and we will do it.”