Heavy rain batters City

Heavy rain lashed the City and surrounding areas on Saturday night, throwing weekend traffic out of gear.

By 11:30 pm, Bangalore received a rainfall of 106.2 mm. It was immediately not known whether it was a record on a single day in November.

Most of the underpasses were flooded with almost four feet of water and several roads had knee-deep water, triggering massive traffic jams in the central business district.

Several places reported flooding and waterlogging. People who were gearing up for weekend celebrations and those who were out shopping were caught unawares as it started pouring in the evening and lasted for a few hours.

Around 20 houses in the Kamakhya area of Banashankari, near the Deve Gowda Petrol Bunk, Banashankari II Stage and at Ganesh Mandir ward were flooded.
Eleven houses at Krishnappa Garden and one each at Malleshwaram Circle, Someshwaranagar and Journalist Colony were also flooded.

Several houses at Kamalanagar, Laggere, Kalyan Nagar at Nagarbhavi, Mahalakshmi Layout, J P Nagar, Mahadevapura, Byatarayanapura, Wilson Garden and Kanakapura Road were inundated. The drains were choked with garbage at a number of places on MG Road and Church Street .

Officials of Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said gangmen and lorries were sent to pump out water from the flooded houses soon after complaints were received. Mayor B S Satyanarayana instructed the gangmen and subordinates to take steps to clear the water-clogged areas and flooded zones. BBMP Commissioner M Laxminarayana told Deccan Herald: “We will ensure that the heavy rain does not disrupt the public. I am monitoring the areas affected by the downpour and have alerted the control room as well.”

Vehicular movement came to a standstill for more than two hours in the City’s central business district.

Government and private buses were stuck on roads in Okalipuram, K G Road, Yeshwanthpur, Bellary Road, Electronics City and Mysore Road, said the traffic police. Vehicles clogged the area around Anand Rao Circle and near the old Kino theatre for hours. It was a similar story at Shantinagar bus stand. It was a herculean task for the traffic police to manage vehicular flow as signal lights went off at several junctions. The police deployed additional forces and manually handled the vehicular movement.

The rain partially affected trains’ schedule. Some trains left the City and Yeshwanthpur stations late, added the police.

Slow moving traffic was also reported at Mekhri Circle, Seshadripuram Underpass, K R Market Circle, Anil Kumble Circle, Magadi Road, Hebbal among others. On MG Road, there was traffic congestion even around 10:30 pm. The entire stretch of MG Road from the Brigade Road intersection to Chinnaswamy Stadium was clogged with vehicles as well.

A number of vehicles were also seen floating at traffic junctions such as Shivananda Circle, Seshadripuram, Rhenius Street, Shantinagar and Mekhri Circle among others.
At many places, vehicle owners abandoned their vehicles and were seen wading in waist-deep water. Such scenes were witnessed mostly at underpasses, said Laxminarayana.

“Underpasses in various places have up to four feet of water. In some places roads have been flooded with two feet of water. However, most main roads are not flooded. We have not received many calls of houses being flooded as yet. Water will pumped out of flooded subways once the rain stops,” he added.

Vehicles parked in the basement of apartments at J P Nagar, Puttenahalli, Marathalli, K R Puram, Indiranagar and other places were submerged in the rain water. Two cars, three auto rickshaws and two bikes were submerged at the railway underbridge in Sheshadripuram, said BBMP officers.