Evening rain leaves roads flooded, cripples traffic

Evening showers on Wednesday left many parts of the city waterlogged.

Areas like Hebbal Main Road, Puttenahalli, Koramangala, Queen’s Road, War Memorial, Fraser Town, Kamaraj Road, Bilekahalli, near Eco Space in Domlur and Yelahanka New Town were completely flooded.

With up to two feet of water on these roads, traffic was paralysed, leaving commuters stranded for hours.

Many people were seen stranded even at Baiyappanahalli Metro station.

Some took to Twitter to express their misery. “Ring Roads are meant to be arterials which flow. Ours are polycythemic and viscous. Rain, you clog the life out of Bangalore roads,” expressed Dr Rajath Athreya, a resident.

Around seven trees were uprooted across the city until 11.15 pm and Bangalore Traffic Police warned residents via Twitter not to park vehicles under trees during rains.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy spoke to BBMP commissioner M Maheshwar Rao on the rain situation in the city. The commissioner briefed the chief minister on the necessary precautions taken by the BBMP to prevent any damage.

The commissioner said, “BBMP has deployed officers and Prahari teams to address rain-related problems in all zones. All control rooms are equipped with Praharis and even BBMP forest officers are working round the clock to ensure that uprooted trees are removed.”

Mayor R Sampath Raj said, “We have formed 21 teams to attend to waterlogging problems. Water on the inundated roads is also being drained. The Chief Minister has directed us to take proper measures.”

Forecast

Even as the southwest monsoon advanced further over the coast, the weatherman maintains that Bengaluru is still experiencing pre-monsoon showers.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the city is still experiencing pre-monsoon showers and monsoon has advanced till Shirali, Hassan and Mysuru. After studying the charts, the arrival date of the monsoon in Bengaluru will be announced on Thursday.

According to IMD officials, the city received 4.4 mm rainfall till 8.30 pm, while HAL Airport received 32.4 mm rainfall. The rain started at 7.45 pm.

IMD has forecast thundershowers over coastal Karnataka and north interior Karnataka and at a few places over south interior Karnataka for the next 48 hours.