Motorists wade through sheets of rain and waterlogged streets on Central Street, Shivajinagar, on Saturday.
Credit: DH Photo/ S K Dinesh
Heavy rains, along with the weekend rush, created chaos on city roads on Saturday evening.
Commuters were stuck on busy roads for long hours due to traffic snarls, especially in the Central Business District (CBD) area, as the IPL match was also underway at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Travel time doubles
Traffic congestion was so severe that many commuters reported their travel time had nearly doubled compared to regular days. “The traffic was very bad. What usually takes around 30 minutes took me more than an hour. To add to that, there were multiple broken-down buses and bad potholes,” said Dr Nikita Galani, who travelled between Basavanagudi and MG Road on Saturday evening.
The heavy rains also led to waterlogging on several major roads. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) received complaints of waterlogging from areas such as Nagavara Road, Domlur, and many others.
Many residents expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing drain works by the BBMP and blamed the civic body for the waterlogging.
J Suresh, a resident of Byrathi, said that drain work in their area began five months ago and is yet to be completed. “Even in areas where the drain work is complete, they have not redone the roads. When it rains, it gets really slushy and difficult to drive,” he said.
The BBMP control room reported eight incidents of tree falls and 20 instances of fallen branches. A tree fall was also reported in Jayanagar. “The tree was reported to have fallen on an auto. However, no injuries were reported,” said a staffer from the BBMP control room.
Autos and cabs were hard to come by, and commuters reported several cancellations.