An hour’s rain wrecks the City

An hour’s rain wrecks the City
Deccan Herald

An hour of heavy rain, and Bangaloreans’ worst nightmare returned to haunt them.

Several residents living in low-lying areas spent a long, sleepless night as Monday midnight’s downpour inundated houses, uprooted trees and flooded roads.

The downpour, measuring 78.4 mm, barely lasted one and a half hours, from 12 midnight to 1.30 am on Tuesday, but it flooded over 400 houses in areas like Koramangala, KH Road, Madiwala, Adugodi, Sampangiramanagar, Ittamadu, HAL II Stage and Bommanahalli.

There were reports of waterlogging from Mysore Road, Padmanabhnagar, Banashankari III Stage, Sanjaynagar, AECS Layout, Changaiah Layout, Girinagar II Stage, Thyagarajnagar, JP Nagar V and VI Stage and Lakkasandra. Two trees were uprooted in Vijayanagar and one in Mysore Road. The BMTC depot at Shanthinagar was also flooded due to overflow of the storm water drain near its premises. A semi-constructed house collapsed at Hanumagirinagar.

The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike received about 90 complaints from 12 midnight to 7 am on Tuesday.

Two cars were washed away and three autorickshaws were damaged near Nandi Enclave Apartments at Chikkalasandra. Reports of vehicle damage were received in Bhuvaneshwarinagar and Koramangala. A few vehicles broke down on Lal Bagh Road, where water reached a height of three feet.

It was a close call for Dr Prakash Arkota, who, while driving his Nissan X-Trail SUV on KH Road, was nearly drowned, at around 1 am. “There was a stretch where the water level had reached four feet. My friend and I had to swim out to save ourselves. We called the police control room, but they were not helpful. They said they could not come to our rescue because it was raining. We were marooned till 4 am,” Dr Arkota told Deccan Herald.

Meanwhile, several BPO employees on their way home after the late night shift were stranded on 80 Feet Road and 7th Main, Koramangala, Sarjapur Road and Marathahalli.

“I could hear screeching sounds of Sumo vans throughout the night. Many had to turn around and take diversion to avoid these spots,” said Sheela Latha, a resident of Koramangala.



*Houses inundated: Koramangala, Hebbal, Adugodi, Sampangiramanagar, Ittamadu, HAL II Stage, Jayanagar, Bommanahalli

* Roads flooded: 80 Feet Road, Koramangala, Mysore Road, KH Road, Sarjapur Road, Marathahalli Main Road

* Three trees uprooted in Vijayanagar and Mysore Road

* BMP control room received 90 complaints till Tuesday morning

* How’s today? Cloudy with one or two spells of rain