BENGALURU: Overnight and incessant rains opened a flood of woes for Bengaluru on Friday. Boats were deployed after parts of south Bengaluru were inundated with floodwaters rising up to four feet while traffic jams paralysed the city in the morning and evening.
While the city received an average of 52.5mm of rainfall, Bengaluru Urban district recorded the heaviest rainfall of 120 mm in 28 years at Doddathogur. The areas surrounding IT hub, Bannerghatta Road, were the worst-hit as hundreds of apartments were flooded. The fire services department had to press boats to rescue stranded residents and offer them food and water.
Following the breach of Kodichikkanahalli and Hulimavu lakes, the water gushed to surrounding areas. Bilekahalli, Uttarahalli, Anugrahanagar, Vyshya Layout, Kodichikkanahalli, HSR Layout, Marathahalli, BTM Layout, Madivala, JP Nagar, Electronics City, Hosur Road, Old Madras Road, Tin Factory and surrounding areas were flooded. It took 12 hours to pump out water in these areas. With the Met Department predicting more rain in the next two days, the situation looks grim.
Hundreds of vehicles parked in apartment basements were damaged and over 35 trees uprooted. Some schools registered almost zero attendance.
While areas like Bannerghatta Road, Bommanahalli zone, Electronics City bore the brunt of the rain, there were traffic jams lasting over four hours in stretches like Hosur Road in the morning. About 100 fire officers, State Disaster Response Force, 40 trainees and 30 home guards helped in rescue operations.
Residents blamed the floods on illegal constructions in a lakebed area. Sudeep, a techie, said floods were a perennial problem during heavy rain. “This time it’s worse. The Kodichikkanahalli lake is big and it’s overflowing. Unless illegal constructions are removed, there’s no solution,” he said. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy who visited the flooded areas, blamed the forest department for the mess. “Kodichikkanahalli lake comes under Forest Department. They neither work nor allow others to work to remove silt from the lake. This is why it is flooded here,” he said.