Rain brings relief to City

Jams galore as isolated showers take a toll on traffic

Sudden and heavy showers on Friday evening brought Bangaloreans the much-needed relief from a hot spell.

However, the rain brought in its wake monsoon-time problems that the citizens know so well. Traffic came to a halt in many places, adding to the peak hour jam. Traffic moved at a snail’s pace on Kasturba Road, Vittal Mallya Road, Corporation Circle, J C Road and Hosur Road. A malfunctioning traffic signal added to the woes at Coles Park. Tree fall on Haines Road, Coles Road and Pulakeshinagar compounded the problem.

Although heavy, the rain was isolated, with many parts of the City remaining dry. According to Meteorological department, the entire City received only 3.2 mm of rainfall, while the Bangalore International Airport area received over 28.9 mm of rainfall.

According to an official from the Meteorological department, traces of offshore trough or the low pressure area had formed in the upper air above the Arabian Sea influencing the monsoon rain in coastal areas. Similar trough has also been found in the Bay of Bengal.

Since low pressure is not influencing the monsoon clouds especially towards interior parts of the country, Bangalore and surrounding areas have not received rain.  

Dr V S Prakash, Director, Ka­rnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, said that it was only isolated rain stretched across Bangalore and the surrounding areas. As per the recording, Lalbagh in the City recorded maximum rainfall of 22 mm and Begur, located on the outskirts recorded 10 mm rainfall. K R Puram and surrounding areas received over 4 mm of rainfall whereas An­ekal received 8.5 mm of rainfall.