Alert cops, rescue workers save the night

Police officers and emergency services personnel were the first to respond to calls for help as a breach in Doddabidarakallu Lake flooded hundreds of homes in northern Bengaluru on Wednesday night.

Police immediately rushed to areas around the lake as people running out of their flooded homes sent out an SOS. Bescom, BWSSB and BBMP officials arrived only on Thursday morning.

Six teams of emergency services personnel rushed to the spot as early as around 4.30 am, carrying heavy pumping machines and other equipment to flush the floodwater out of homes and streets. Together with BBMP workers and local volunteers, they cleared the floodwater and diverted it to a stormwater drain.

Gopalaiah, a resident of Bhavani Nagar, said: "We somehow ran out of our homes as the water level started going up. The entire area and the streets were submerged."

He acknowledged that emergency services personnel responded much before BWSSB and BBMP officers arrived. "Although most of our vehicles and belongings were submerged, the clearing of the floodwater gave us some relief," he added.