by ABFRLadmin | November 16, 2022
At ABFRL, disaster management is not just a corporate responsibility, we ensure regular drills and safety protocols are carried out periodically. This dedicated set of foot soldiers tirelessly try to keep every one at our premises safe and secure through all known calamities.
A flood in the garden city or Indias Silicon Valley, Bangalore, India, was unfathomable. With no major water bodies, it wouldve been the last imaginable big Indian city to be submerged underwater. When our Bangalore HO was caught in the midst the unprecedented event, our disaster management team sprang into action. This is how the team navigated through the catastrophe.
How it all began
As the city slept through the downpour on September 6, 2022, rainwater started aggressively entering the office premises. As all roads leading to the office turned into knee deep rivers, our safety heroes managed to reach in the nick of time to take control of the situation.
As the night progressed, the basement of the building was drowned in as much as 5 crore liters of water. Our woes further worsened with the ongoing construction nearby blocking all the water from getting drained naturally.
Meet the true heroes: the task force team
Our Task Force Team (TFT), comprising the Admin, Safety, Security, and Project departments, initiated corrective measures with some much-needed assistance from our Ramnagar factory team. Well-before the local administration support arrived, the team had also been able begin the process of pumping out water from the affected areas of our premises.
As all these frontline warriors geared up to pump out the water, a grave danger awaited with open electricity lines. To keep everyone from harms way, the night team of housekeeping, security, and maintenance, was instructed to maintain a distance while keeping a close eye and raise an alert in case the situation took a dangerous turn.
Staying Strong till the very end
The water pumping exercise continued till the wee hours of September 7, but the water was receding at a much slower pace. This prompted the team to arrange for on another mega pump was brought to the site on September 8, which continued operating until the evening of September 10.
Once the water had been completely pumped out, it was decided that the team would now focus on removing all the sludge and debris that were left behind. Since the walls of the basement had been wet for five days at this point and there was a risk of structural damage, the maintenance and housekeeping teams were instructed to wear their PPE before entering. Temporary electric connection was restored in the office, to carry out cleaning, disinfection, and restoration activities, and all the damaged materials, fire pumps, and electrical panels were removed from the basement.
Bringing Operations back to life
Finally, after a week, the electricity was restored, and our HO came back to life. The entire restoration activity was safely executed without any accidents or injuries. Even though the odds were stacked against us, the team managed to come together and pull us through the darkest of times with their sheer willpower and presence of mind. During this period, we ensured that our delivery times did not suffer and none of our day-to-day activities that had a direct impact on consumer experience were hampered.
While disasters never come with a forewarning, we can now safely say that there will always be new heroes who will emerge to ride us out of calamities bravely.
