Rain fury hits City, kills two

Winds snap powerlines, uproot trees, billboards

The 55-minute downpour that was preceded by strong winds helped bringing down the temperature considerably, giving Bangaloreans a respite from the heat.

According to Meteorological Department officials, the rain on Saturday night and Sunday evening brought down the temperature by six degrees to 21.4 degrees Celsius.

While the City received 26.5mm of rainfall till late Sunnight, the Met department predicted thundershowers on Monday, too. The South-West Monsoon, which is expected to hit Kerala on May 30, may reach Bangalore by the first week of June.

Large parts of the City plunged into darkness as BESCOM engineers and workers struggled to respond to emergencies, including attending to broken electric cables.
Several areas, including Basavanagudi, Vidyaranyapura, Koramangala, Kattriguppe and Jeevanbheema Nagar faced sudden power cuts from 5 pm onwards.

In many pockets of the City, residents turned their ire against BBMP, BWSSB and BESCOM officials who failed to address their grievances, exposing the chinks in their monsoon preparedness. BESCOM and BBMP workers could not reach several locations across the City, including Ullala Basti and Kamakshipalya.

While a woman, Anjanamma (35), was killed at Ullala Basti when a portion of a wall collapsed and buried her under the debris, a BESCOM employee, Ramakrishna (48), was washed away when he fell into a drainage in Venkatappa Layout at Hosakerehalli.

According to BBMP officials, normal life was thrown out of gear in places hit by the thunderstorm and rain, especially in Rajajinagar, Indiranagar, ITC Factory, Kalyannagar, NR Colony, HAL, Sarvagnanagar, Vijayanagar, Malleswaram, BTM Layout and Jayanagar.
Scores of trees uprooted by the gusty winds blocked roads in Indiranagar and Kasturba Road where civic workers struggled to remove them long after the rain subsided.

Trees that crashed at Allalasandra railway gate, Old Airport, Trinity Circle, Byappanahalli Junction, Abbas Ali Road, Ulsoor and BRV Junction, caused damage to vehicles. A car parked outside a house in Rajajinagar was smashed as a result of the impact of an uprooted tree trunk.

Vehicles were found damaged at Coles Park near Thomas Cafe, HAL Command Hospital and Eagle Street. Apart from a BMTC bus, a bus shelter at Mathikere and a milk parlour at Matri Square were also damaged.

Billboards were wrenched out of their moorings and flung several metres on roads. A huge hoarding came crashing down at Okalipuram KB Junction, endangering motorists.
Power supply was disrupted when tree trunks and branches fell on overhead cables. A KEB pole collapsed near the Congress office on Queen's Road, electricity power supply in RK Layout and Padmanabhanagar Layout. Water-logging was reported in Kino Theatre Railway Bridge, Avenue Road, near Lalbagh West Gate, Jayanagar, Girinagar, Chamarajpet, Mysore Road, Seshadripuram and Shivajinagar.

Vehicular movement was also affected in many areas. Traffic was worst hit in Ashoknagar and Old Madras Road. Vehicles crawled at a snail’s pace in and around Majestic area, Peenya, Yeshwanthpur and Hosur Road.