Rain fury: Bengaluru sinks again

Bengaluru: The torrential downpour that battered Bengaluru exposed gaps in the city’s infrastructure as residents woke up to river-like roads and localities on Monday.

At least three people lost their lives as authorities scrambled to mitigate the damage and provide relief to affected families.

A woman housekeeper was killed in a wall collapse at a private company in Mahadevapura. A 63-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy were killed while clearing out rainwater from the cellar of an apartment complex in near BTM Layout 2nd Stage.

Bengaluru city received 130 mm of rainfall since 8.30 am on Sunday, with nearly 95 mm recorded in the intervening night between Sunday and Monday.

Widespread waterlogging and flooding were reported across the city, throwing traffic into disarray. The chaos at Silk Board Junction presented the most definitive image of the rain-induced havoc: one side of the road under the double-decker flyover was rendered unusable due to stagnant rainwater while traffic crawled on the other side.

Late on Monday night, there was heavy traffic from Bommasandra Industrial Area till Chandapura towards Hosur. People claimed to have been stuck for hours.

On the opposite lane, heavy traffic stretched for a few kilometres from Attibele towards Bengaluru and around Chandapura.

Rainwater reached the escalators of the yet-to-be-opened Silk Board Junction metro station, a CCB office in Shanthinagar, and scores of homes in low-lying areas. The Electronics City expressway had to be closed due to waterlogging at Roopena Agrahara.

The initial assessment by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) showed that over 150 houses in the city were flooded, nearly 100 of them in Kengeri alone.

From Sunday night to Monday morning, 27 trees and 43 branches were reported to have fallen.

Clogged drains and uprooted trees exacerbated the flooding, blocking several key roads and halting traffic.

Earthmovers were employed to push out water at Silk Board Junction. In Hennur, tractors worked to clear flooded areas, while a goods vehicle was found submerged at a railway underpass near RMV 2nd stage. The BMTC bus depot at Shantinagar was also inundated, while rescue personnel used inflatable boats to evacuate residents from Sai Layout.

While many residents were up all night wading through the water that entered their homes, others were in for a rollercoaster ride as they tried navigating through flooded roads. In many areas, police were forced to divert traffic to alternative roads.

Uma Mani, a resident of HSR Layout Sector 7, said: “The drains aren’t silted properly. Drain covers have been left open and garbage has been dumped in it. Some parts of the stormwater drain remain incomplete. The whole of HSR Layout is flooded.”

Damage to the power infrastructure left many homes in the dark. Waterlogging was so severe that civic agencies had to deploy earthmovers to clear drains and boats to evacuate citizens from flooded areas. People travelling on tractors was a common sight in many low-lying areas. For instance, in Mahadevapura, one of the worst-affected areas, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) deployed six tractors, two earthmovers, and three fire engines to evacuate people and pump out water.

The ordeal continued through the day as many areas received rains by afternoon. Since Monday morning, eight trees came down and traffic jams were common as workers were busy clearing uprooted trees.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah planned to go on an inspection of flood-affected areas but cancelled it, citing its potential impact on traffic. He plans to inspect the areas on May 21.