Rain throws life out of gear in City

Low-lying areas inundated

Heavy rain accompanied by thunder pounded the City on Saturday evening, throwing life and traffic out of gear. 

Control rooms of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) were abuzz with calls from residents, who complained about rain havoc.

The 41.7-mm rainfall poured misery for people living in low-lying areas. Houses at Journalist Colony, Jalahalli, Bapujinagar, JC Road, Yelahanka, Ranganathapura ward and behind Channammanakere Achchukattu Police Station limits bore the brunt of the downpour.

Waterlogging at the Raithara Santhe bridge near Yelahanka left motorists and pedestrians in the lurch. Affected residents of Bapujinagar were seen pumping out muddy water till night. 

“The roads of our locality go under water every time it rains because of the poor drainage system and civic infrastructure. Even the BSNL landline phones were affected and there was poor connectivity from evening,” said Cecily James, a resident of Chinnappana Halli, near Marathahalli. 

Trees were uprooted at Jayanagar 4th ‘T’  Block, Nanjamba Agrahara at Chamrajpet  and at Malleswaram 13th Cross. A KSRTC bus got stuck in a pothole near KR Circle, leading to traffic chaos and disrupting the vehicular movement. 

Vehicular movement

From 6 to 7 pm, slow moving traffic was witnessed at Sankey Road, Cunningham Road, Malleswaram 18th Cross, KG Road, JC Road, Anil Kumble Junction towards Queen’s Statue Junction on MG Road and surrounding areas due to waterlogging.

Traffic movement was also affected at Mysore Bank Circle towards Majestic on Kempeg­owda Road and at Rajarajes­wari Nagar towards Nayand­a­nahalli Junction on Mysore Road. Mayor N Shanthakumari, who was present at the  BBMP Head Office Control Room, said ward engineers and health inspectors had been instructed to be present at the spot from where complaints had been received.

“We have sent the Prahari vans and gangmen to clear the fallen trees and pump the water from houses,” she told Deccan Herald. 

Weather warning

Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning of heavy downpour for the next 48 hours. IMD-Bangalore Director B Puttanna said the heavy rain experienced since the last couple of days was because of two systems: “There is an upper air cyclonic circulation over the Kumarin area because of which coastal, north interior and south interior Karnataka, especially Bangalore, is experiencing heavy rainfall. There is also a depression over west-central and adjoining south and east central Arabian Sea. Though it is far from the City, the winds blowing from the north-west direction are bringing more rain.” 

“Heavy rainfall is forecast over Bangalore and other parts of south interior Karnataka. This will continue for the next five days,” he said. 
Bangalore is experiencing a monsoon-like condition, of cloudy sky, drop in temperatures and heavy downpour coupled with thunder and lightning.

 So far this month, the city recorded 246 mm rainfall, against the normal 170.6 mm for the month. October is the second wettest month of the year after September, said the weatherman.