Heavy rain wrecks Bengaluru’s fragile infrastructure

Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds that pounded the city on Wednesday morning uprooted trees in 20 areas, while the ensuing floods left many vehicles under knee-deep water in Koramangala 6th Block.

Waterlogging was reported in many areas in the early morning rain, which the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre has estimated as 64 millimetres. The downpour was particularly heavy in Dasarahalli, which recorded 88.5 mm rain.

The city’s western strip recorded rain above 64 mm, from Shettihalli to Doddabidarakallu and Herohalli; parts of south, including Basavanagudi, Kumaraswamy Layout and Hemmigepura; as well as the eastern side from Domlur to Koramangala and Bellandur.

Officials in the BBMP control room said tree fall was reported from Garudacharpalya, Cambridge School in JB Nagar, near Maharani College on Palace Road, Chennammanakere Achukattu, Basaveshwaranagar, Vyalikaval, Murgeshpalya, Bagalgunte, HSR Layout, Konankunte Cross and other areas.

While houses were flooded at Sunkadakatte and Ejipura, water overflowed from the bunds of the Chikkabanavara Lake, threatening to flood hundreds of houses in the nearby areas.

No breach at lake

BDA officials, who oversee the lake, said garbage has blocked a waste weir causing the overflow. “There was no breach,” an official said.

Koramangala residents were severely inconvenienced as the main road connecting Ejipura and adjacent streets at 6th Block have been flooded knee-deep water.

A sewage line is also overflowing onto the road. Cars and bikes parked on the roadside are half in water.

In Pattegarpalya, the side wall of a stormwater drain collapsed and a road caved in, leaving residents fearing the worst in the forthcoming
monsoon.

The BBMP control room received complaints of waterlogging from many places, while citizens also vented their ire and frustration on social media over the inconvenience.

Road next to building site caves in

A street caved in after heavy rain flooded the foundation pit of an under-construction building on Hayes Road in central Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The cave-in happened because the contractor had dug up the ground until the edge of the road which got filled with rainwater, Mayor M Goutham Kumar said during his visit to the area. “I have instructed the officials to take action against the building owner and get in touch with Bescom and the BWSSB to take up precautionary measures to prevent damage to the adjacent properties,” he said.

The mayor asked the officials to immediately barricade the area and arrange lighting facilities at night until the site is secured safely. He also asked for issuing notices to people living in the neighbouring buildings and arranging for their evacuation should the rains intensify in the coming days.