Many roofless after Hulimavu breach submerges homes

Many people living in the immediate vicinity of Hulimavu Lake lost their properties, crucial documents and even cash as water from the breached waterbody entered the neighbourhood.

A resident of Krishna Layout along Begur Road, Mahadeva, took shelter in his tractor with his family. He could only manage to carry some furniture. “Where do we go now?” he asked. “The money I hoarded has been washed away. So were the documents to prove the ownership of my vehicle and my bank account. Everything is gone. I’ve no choice but to pray that I get everything back.”

Homemaker Gowramma had saved up grocery, the thing she cares about the most. “We get to eat only when my husband makes some money,” she said. “There are also some gold ornaments we bought after working hard for several years and saving up some money. We may probably get some compensation, but where do we eat today? Where are we to sleep until the water here is cleared?”

Syed Nawshad helplessly watched the lake water washing over vehicles that had come for repair in the SW garage, which he owns. “More than 50 vehicles (cars and trucks) have been damaged,” he said. “I’m not sure how I’m going to return them to the owners. The damages would run into lakhs of rupees and we eat out of what we earn daily.”

Chandrappa pointed to his water-soaked house in Krishna Layout 4th Cross. “This is a rented house and you can see the kind of damage it suffered,” he said. “The house is already flooded about a feet. It has submerged our bed and everything else. Even if the flooding stops now, we aren’t sure how we’d cope with our daily life for the next few days.”

Houses that escaped Sunday’s flooding will have to endure days of blackouts, with the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) snapping the power supply. Bescom will restore power only after the flooded areas are cleared. The BBMP said restoration work in the area would go on for the next two days.

Bommanahalli zonal commissioner D Randeep said the civic body would mop up the place and undertake mosquito larving. “We’ll deploy pourakarmikas to clear the wastes in the houses. We’ve also asked assistant revenue officials (ARO) to visit the damaged houses and submit a report. We’ll award compensation based on their report,” he said, adding that the civic body has made arrangements for the residents to stay until the houses are cleared.