BENGALURU: It is now well established that the city is not able to handle heavy rains. Saturday night’s rainfall resulted in more chaos. Scenes of waterlogging, power cuts and roads choked with traffic were back to haunt residents. Water also entered several houses and official premises.
The sight of locals fishing in the water collected at Dattatreya temple premises attracted the attention of many. The premises was completely inundated and officials from the Fire department and the BBMP had a tough time in draining out the water. Six pumps were used for the purpose.
Bommanahalli region, which received the highest rainfall on Saturday night, was the worst-affected zone. Many low-lying areas like Devarachikkanahalli and Kodichikkanahalli were under water for a long time. In Gottigere near Bannerghatta Road, flood water entered the parking lot of a high-rise apartment complex. Several vehicles were seen floating in rain water.
BBMP officials said about 40 trees fell in the city on Saturday night. This resulted in traffic congestion in areas like Banashankari, Richmond Town, Bamboo Bazaar, Anjanapura, BTM Layout and Ejipura. BBMP officials said they are clearing trees and branches from the roads on a war-footing.
In April this year, BBMP had identified 174 flood-prone areas. East zone has maximum of 48, followed by 30 in south, 25 each in Mahadevapura and Rajarajeshwarinagar, 22 in west zone, 14 in Bommanahalli and five each in Yelahanka and Dasarahalli zones.
Flooded underpasses a major worry for commuters
Many underpasses, including Frazer Town underpass, Benniganahalli railway underpass, Jeevanahalli underbridge and KR Circle underpass were flooded after rain. Motorists complained that the BBMP has not deployed adequate pumps and workers to drain out water.
“Traffic congestion is mainly due to water getting stagnated in the underpasses. Officials have not come up with a concrete solution so far,” said K Kumar, a regular commuter.
More helplines introduced, but Bescom continues to struggle
A day after Bescom introduced
12 new helplines, many residents say it continues to remain engaged. K Ninan,a resident of Shanthi Nagar, said, “There was no power in 7th Cross Lakshmi Road for the last two nights. Bescom officials are neither reachable nor attending to complaints. A small drizzle is enough for them to disconnect electricity.”
Bescom infrastructure like transformers and feeders had taken a beating during the recent rains which were accompanied by strong winds. Bescom helplines have been flooded with thousands of calls of late. They received around 14,000 calls in a day when rain wreaked havoc in city.
Mayor visits affected areas
Mayor Padmavathi visited the areas of Bilekahalli in ward 188 following complaints of water entering houses. The areas had faced the same problem last year too. Narayan Swamy, the Mayor’s PA, said though work had been done on the storm water drain in the area, a proper connection to the nearby Madivala lake couldn’t be given as the land near the lake belonged to forest department. “The Mayor has called a meeting of officials from the forest department and the BWSSB on Wednesday to discuss the issue. K J George (Development Minister) has
also been apprised of the situation,” he added.