Panathur railway underbridge is submerged after rain and commuters wade through water deep on the side

Several vehicles stopped in the middle of the RUB and had to be towed from the underpass. | Photo credit: Special arrangement

A late night downpour on Saturday (September 19) caused the infamous Panathura Railway Under Bridge (RUB) to flood again, leaving commuters in the busy East Bengaluru locality stranded the next morning. The incident has once again exposed substandard road infrastructure in the eastern part of the city, a day after the Varthur-Gunjur road grabbed headlines.

Panathur RUB is a key link between Gunjur, Varthur and Outer Ring Road (ORR). Several technicians and employees of private companies on the ORR use RUB regularly as there are very few roads for the areas around Varthur, Gunjur and Panathur to reach the ORR.

Saturday night’s rain left the RUB inundated with water rising to hip level. Several vehicles stopped in the middle of the RUB and had to be towed from the underpass. Two-wheelers pushed their motorcycles through the standing water to get to the other side. Many used the pavement along the RUB to push their scooters.

Pictures and videos from the RUB started flooding social media on Sunday (September 20) morning with captions like “live from Panathur” tagging local MLAs, Bengaluru’s development minister and other authorities.

Manoj S., a technician who uses the stretch daily, explained that the Panathur stretch witnesses severe congestion during peak weekdays and if rain can cause such disruption for even two or three days, the entire area will be paralyzed.

“It’s a shame that connectivity to the stretch that gives this city its Silicon Valley name is fraught with such problems,” he said. Many residents took to X to share their frustration, with one Shajith stating: “If we can’t fix such a basic underpass, how can we expect this government to build tunnel roads?

A senior traffic police officer told The Hindu that RUB was always a problem but this time the flooding was serious. “It was a Sunday so there was no major disruption to traffic, but such a situation on weekdays would lead to gridlock, especially as the S-Cross stretch still witnesses congestion,” he said.

However, the situation on the RUB improved by the evening. Similar problems persisted in areas around Panathur, while towards the south, HSR and Hosur Road witnessed heavy waterlogging on Sunday morning.

Published – 20 Sep 2026 20:46 IST