JOIN US200 homes flooded in Bengaluru, some of them 7th time in three months
Rainwater gushed into at least 200 homes on Wednesday night when residents were asleep and destroyed household items. Houses located in several city neighbourhoods remained submerged as late as Thursday afternoon.
The BBMP’s conservative estimates revealed that 60 locations, including those in the IT hub, have been engulfed by water.
Mahadevapura, Bommanahalli, and southern and eastern parts of Bengaluru were the worst affected, while North and West Bengaluru stayed mostly free from any rain-related damage.
Several of the city’s lakes were brimming with water, while the overflowing Madiwala Lake flooded many residential areas and the Outer Ring Road. Some residents reported water entering their homes for the seventh time in three months.
“Water entered my home at 9.30 pm. We were not able to clear it till 2 am as the road too was flooded. Many electronic items, including the refrigerator and washing machine, have been damaged,” Sethu Madhav, 76, a resident of Anugraha Layout, said.
N Ahmed, a resident of Sai Layout, said water entered her home from the toilet.
“We had increased the height of the entrance to stop the water, but it started flowing into the house from the toilet. We spent Rs 3,000 to clean the floor. There was no other damage as we had kept the ground floor vacant due to repeated flooding,” she said.
Jhansi, a resident of Bakshi Garden, shared videos of water gushing into many houses late in the night.
The clogged stormwater drains, she said, destroyed household items and provisions of at least 45 families, who belong to poor and marginalised communities earning daily wages.
Bulk of the rain-related complaints came from the city’s low-lying areas such as HSR Layout, Anugraha Layout, Sai Layout and Rainbow Drive Layout.
The flood-hit places in the IT corridor include Bellandur Kodi main road, Belagere, Outer Ring Road, Yemalur and Whitefield Main Road.
Social media was overwhelmed with posts about flooded roads and waterlogged basements.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), which created stormwater drain infrastructure to meet 60 mm of rains, is mulling piloting a ‘monkey’s cheek’ solution — creating underground water retention basins — in one or two areas to mitigate flooding. The World Bank has reportedly offered to provide technical guidance.
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department is predicting heavy rains for the next two days over Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru Urban, Chamarajanagar, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara and Shivamogga districts.