Pre-monsoon showers bring Bengaluru to its knees, again

Bengaluru: A long spell of heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunder and lightning, swept through the city on Thursday evening, bringing much-needed relief from the scorching heat but also disrupting normal life and flooding roads.

Many parts of the city received moderate to heavy rainfall. While central, southern, western, and eastern Bengaluru witnessed intense showers, the northern parts saw moderate to light rainfall.

SJP Road, Residency Road, Veerannapalya Main Road, Gunjur KFC, Bhashyam Circle, Jayamahal Road, Jnanabharathi Main Road, Tavarekere Main Road, and other arterial roads experienced waterlogging. Traffic police, clad in raincoats, worked to clear the roads.

Several other areas were also impacted, including Horamavu, Bilekahalli, Veerasandra Road, Hosa Road Junction, Bannerghatta Road, Hebbal Flyover, Ramamurthy Nagar Signal, MBT Road, and Kasturi Nagar Road. The rains significantly affected southern Bengaluru, particularly Jayanagar, Banashankari, CK Acchukattu, Ittamadu, and Thyagarajnagar, according to the traffic police.

By 9 pm, the BBMP had received 10 complaints of tree falls and had addressed five of them. It also received 23 complaints of branch snapping and attended to 13. Many areas across the city also faced prolonged power cuts.

Flooded metro station

Due to the incessant rain, AS Char Road, which connects to Chikpet Metro Station, was flooded, leaving commuters struggling to cross the road.

BM Chethan, a user on X, posted that rainwater had stagnated even at the platform level of the RR Nagar Metro Station.

Commuters found it difficult to book cabs and autorickshaws. As it was a holiday, many had stepped out for shopping but were stranded.

Srinidhi, a Koramangala resident who visited Church Street, said she waited for an hour to find an auto on a ride-hailing app. Drivers on the street were demanding double or triple the meter fare.

Evening thundershowers likely

By 8:30 pm on Thursday Bengaluru city had received 17.8 mm of rainfall and HAL Airport recorded 13 mm according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The IMD’s automatic weather station for Bengaluru Urban recorded 20 mm of rainfall during the same period. Wind speed was recorded at 17 knots (31.48 km/h). The IMD also forecasted a slight dip in maximum temperatures—down by 0.3°C to 34°C in Bengaluru city and by 1.9°C to 32.2°C at HAL Airport. Rain or thundershowers are expected in the afternoon or evening across Bengaluru city and Kempegowda International Airport until May 3. A partly cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thundershowers is likely at HAL Airport.