Showers drench City; more rains predicted

Life went out of gear as heavy rains pounded the City on Friday. According to Indian Meteorological Department, the City has so far received the highest rainfall for July in the past five years.

 “For the month of July, Bangalore City has received a total of 127.2 mm of rainfall (till 8.30 pm as on Friday) as against the normal amount of 109.5 mm of rainfall. We are expecting more rainfall in the next two days. This is the highest the City has got till date when compared to the month of July of last five years,” said B Puttanna, Director, Indian Meteorological Department.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) helpline saw a scores of complaints from residents about tree uprooting and flooding of houses. Trees were uprooted at KR Circle near Seshadri Road, Gayathri Hospital in Vijayanagar, Girinagar, Ideal Homes at Rajarajeshwarinagar, BTM Layout , HSR Layout and Millers Road.

Traffic was diverted at Whitefield and Electronics City, after a tree fell in the area.
“Bangalore City received about 46.6 mm of rainfall, while the HAL Airport received about 37.4 mm,” said an official from the Weather department. 

Around 15 houses were inundated in Peenya and Chokkasandra while rain water gushed into eight houses in Sudhamanagar. Heavy rains also disrupted traffic on Kanakapura Road, Yeshwantpur, Mekhri Circle, Goruguntepalya, Market Circle and Tumkur Road. There was slow moving traffic in eastern parts of the City.

“The main reason for the downpour is the low pressure area formed on Friday morning over northwest Bay of Bengal and neighbouring areas with upper air cyclonic circulation extending up to 7.6 km above sea level tilting towards south west,” added Puttanna.

 The Palike Commissioner M Lakshminarayana said they attended to the complaints within a few hours of receiving them. “The waterlogging at Binny Mill and Peenya was cleared within two hours after it was reported. We have activated all control rooms and the attendants are working swiftly,” he said. The special monsoon squad comprising Prahari vans are well equipped and are being sent to the areas where they are needed, he added.

The Weather department has predicted that the condition will remain the same across the State for the next few days.

“Heavy rain would occur at a few places with isolated very heavy rain falls over Coastal Karnataka and ghat areas of south interior Karnataka in the  next 48 hours. Heavy rain would also occur at isolated places over north interior Karnataka during the same period,” predicted the department.