Rain ordeal continues

RAIN ORDEAL CONTINUES
Vijay Times


BANGALOREANS, who had a day s respite from the rain on Monday , woke up to endless showers on T uesday .

Students and office-goers found it difficult to reach their destinations on time. W aterlogged streets, inundated houses, traffic jams and road blocks were all that one could witness following the continuous rains in the City . Roads with knee-deep water The roads had knee-deep water by evening follo wing the heavy showers. Some of the major roads in the City such as the Mysore, Hosur , Bellary , Richmond, Sampige, Palace, Lalbagh and Airport Roads witnessed traffic jams throughout the day with vehicles mo ving at a snail’s pace.

The traffic on Wheeler Road led to freak accidents with fourwheelers brushing against each other . The intensity of the rain, which inc siderably by late noon, threw normal life c out of gear . At around 3 pm, the rain was so heav motorists found it difficult to ride their vehicle Thick clouds and mist cover the City "The road was hardly visible making it almost impo sible to move ahead. As the windows of my closed, there was fog in the car . I found drive as I had to drive and wipe the fog shield simultaneously . It was a dangerous d Vishwanath, who drove from Malleswaram, recalled. Offices let off early As there were no signs of the rain stoppin evening, the heads of many private companies in th City were kind enough to let their staff g around 4 pm. The move, they believed, would enable their staff reach their homes safely .

Deepa Sateesh, who works for Suntech Data System India Pvt Ltd., in Domlur , told BVT that as soon boss got to kno w of the traffic snarls on and streets being flooded, she asked the st the office by 4 pm. "I am on Richmond Road. It’s r ing heavily and the traffic has already piled up . reach my home in Hanumanthnagar safely ," she said T raffic jams and delay U tter chaos prevailed near many schools as ned up to pick their children. U nmindful of the c uences, many students walked home in the rain. Tho returning home from offices were stuck in t jam for hours together . Many got do wn from buses waded through the waterlogged streets to rea early by taking bylanes and alternative routes. Auto fare goes up Amidst all the chaos, auto drivers had a field day number of people opted to travel in autoric they wanted to get to their destinations without g drenched in the never ceasing rains. Cashing in on the opportunity , the drivers charged more than twice the actual metre fare.

"From Mission Road to Koramangala, the auto drivers demanded Rs 100. N ormally , I pay Rs 30 for the same distance," Suma, a regular commuter on this route told BVT