Rain drowns many City areas

Rain drowns many City areas
DH News Service, Bangalore:
After a two-day lull, rains returned to hit the Bangaloreans with devastating effect on Sunday, wreaking havoc all around and displacing about 2,000 people from their homes in one area alone: Vaddarapalya off Hennur main road.


The nightmarish flooding of roads and low-lying areas, fallen roadside trees, collapsed walls and hundreds trapped in virtual islands told a story of unending struggle. The fury was back, and the civic authorities had no clue what hit them.

Medical aid

At Vaddarapalya, the water had risen as high as eight feet. BBMP was trying to evacuate people from their homes in this place. A temporary shelter had been arranged at Vaddarapalya Kalyana Mantapa for the affected people and medical assistance was also provided.

The heavy downpour that started around Sunday afternoon left a trail of destruction. The Parachute Regiment’s boundary wall collapsed crushing two cars and a cow under it. The Director General of CoD Ajai Kumar Singh too got a taste of the sufferings of the common people when his house was flooded.

It took barely 20 mm of rain to conquer the City’s vulnerable parts. As a road caved in Sanjay Nagar, water gushed into several houses in the low-lying areas and turned roads into virtual rivers. Traffic movement was reduced to a crawl and road jams were the norm. Water entered many houses in the posh Sadashivanagar area, damaging costly electronic materials.

A 50-feet long stretch of the boundary wall of the Parachute Regiments collapsed crushing two cars. A cow, grazing near the wall was killed on the spot. The car owners were however fortunate, as they had gone to buy some materials when the mishap occurred.

Wall collapse

Recalled one of them, Nagaraj Singh: “I don’t know why, but I felt a strong urge for coffee when I was passing from near the ill-fated wall. I got down and walked to the shop. Hardly 30 seconds later, the wall fell down, damaging my vehicle.” Nagaraj said.

Water gushed into DGP Ajay Kumar Singh’s house when the flooding caught him. His subordinates called up the BBMP control room asking the Palike officials to bail his house out of the flood situation. Soon the officials were rushed to the top cop’s residence.

JCB’s have also been stationed along with a few workers at the junction where Hennur main road is water-logged. Weeds which choke the smooth passage of rain water are now being pulled out.

Nightmare

The situation is not new to the residents. BBMP officials admit that solving this problem is not easy. About 50-60 mm of rainfall can create a flood-like situtation and in the last week, the area has experienced 300 mm of rainfall. On Sunday alone, 70 mm of rainfall was recorded in the area.

BBMP has swung into action only after a crisis point has been reached. No preparations were done earlier to deal with such situations. Compounding the matters is the fact that there are constant encroachments, illegal constructions and in many cases, drains are completely blocked or built upon.

SUNDAY MANIA

* Parachute Regiment wall collapses crushing two
cars and killing a cow
* RT Nagar and Dollars Colony worst affected areas
* Road caves in at Sanjay Nagar
* Bureaucrats get taste of flood
* 20 mm rainfall in the city
* Rain or thundershowers likely in next 24 hours