Pre-monsoon showers lashed the city on Friday evening as various areas in Bangalore received close to 91.6 mm of rainfall till 11.30 pm.
“Conditions are favourable for the South-west Monsoon to advance. It is expected to begin from June 2,” said the officer in-charge of the Meterology Department. However, instances of tree falls were reported from various areas like Hanumanthnagar, Jayanagar, Ulsoor, Mahadevpura, Kathriguppe and Mahalakshmipuram.
Flooding of roads and low- lying areas were common in HAL Stage II, Rajajinagar, Jayanagar, DJ Halli and other places. Around 15 houses near JC Road were flooded and sewage and rain water entered houses in Basavanagar, Roshan Nagar, Yelachenahalli, Byatarayanapura and Yellamma Temple Road.
“As many as 25 houses were flooded in my area. BBMP alloted `50 lakh for the construction of a storm water drain but the local engineer Ananthaswamy did not monitor the work properly, 70 per cent of the work is remaining,” said DJ Halli Corporator Sampath Kumar.
Traffic was also slow in several areas, with gridlock extending all the way till Krishnarajpuram and outer areas like Kengeri, Yeshwantpur, Marathalli. “I left my office in Koramangala at 6 pm and I am still stuck near Majestic at 10 pm,” said Gurpreet Pannu, a resident of Kengeri.
Traffic was affected in Richmond Town, Shivananda Circle, Shantinagar, Silk Board, MG Road, Brigade Road and other areas.
Power outages were reported from Jeevan Bima Nagar, Mahalakshmipuram, Thippasandra, Kodihalli, Basavangudi, Jayanagar, Mathikere, Seshadripuram and other places. The BESCOM helpline was flooded with calls waiting periods were upwards of three minutes.
BBMP commissioner Lakshminarayana got a taste of monsoon on his first day of work and was monitoring the situation from the control room.
Meanwhile, traffic signals were operational past midnight and police men could be seen directing traffic.