Small mercies on dry day, but woes remain

Small mercies on dry day, but woes remain
The Times of India

Bangalore: The rain did let up on Wednesday, but there was no let-up in the problems. For once, people thanked the Met office for getting the forecast wrong.

Three people lost their lives in fresh incidents in Bangalore since Tuesday night; many areas went without power, water and telecom links; rain water was still inside people’s homes and on the roads; people continued to be marooned for yet another day and traffic was bad in some areas. The threat of epidemics and water-borne diseases loomed large; people lined up outside clinics with a variety of ailments.

The politicians, however, were out in full force: chief minister N Dharam Singh, accompanied by mayor R Narayanaswamy, deputy CM M P Prakash, KPCC president Mallikarjun M Kharge and BJP leader Ananth Kumar visited some of the affected parts. So did JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda who did some grandstanding of his own.

Elsewhere, help came from unexpected quarters and without fanfare. Apart from fire and emergency services and traffic personnel, over 100 Madras Sappers (Madras Engineering Group) brought in their gear to rescue people.

The BCC launched one of its most massive operations ever: 10,000 sets of clothes were readied of which 2,000 sets were distributed at 21 relief centres and 280 gangmen worked round the clock to pump out water. Some of the areas continued to reel under the aftermath of the deluge. Puttenahalli, JP Nagar, Mysore Road, Hosur Road, Bannerghatta Road, HSR Layout, Yelahanka and Rajarajeshwarinagar were slushy.

Power in most areas was restored on Wednesday, but places such as Puttenahalli remained in the dark. More worryingly, though water receded in many areas, residents had to face short circuits and blown fuses as moisture had affected the power lines. Drinking water was also contaminated in many areas, forcing the BWSSB to deploy 30 tankers to supply safe water.