BENGALURU: Days after Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru in-charge minister DK Shivakumar inspected flood-prone Mahadevpura Zone, the first rain of South West Monsoon marooned several layouts in Varthur. HAL Layout received 8 cm rain, while the rest of the city 2 mm.
According to Varthur Ramesh, his home flooded like last year and blamed encroachment of stormwater drain and apathy of elected representatives and officials for the mess. “Former MLA Aravind Limbavali promised to fix drains, but it has not happened. Last time, many residents lost their clothes and furniture in the flood. This time, it flooded in the first rain itself,” he said.
Ramesh added that it took one hour for the rainwater to recede and cleaning activity to start. Jagadish Reddy, an activist, said the 60-feet drains have been reduced to 15 feet at many places, causing the flooding. “Due to encroachment at many places in Mahadevapura, this time too we are facing floods. Prakash Layout, Meenakshi Layout and Chinnappa Layout were submerged.
Approximately 3,000 residents were affected as water entered homes and shops,” he said. According to India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru received 2 cm rain between 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm on Monday with HAL alone recording 8 cm rainfall. Due to heavy rainfall, traffic was impacted in Whitefield, Bellanduru, HAL and Marathahalli.