BENGALURU: The city was brought to its knees once again after heavy rain led to flooding of homes and waterlogging on roads. It was a scene of chaos on Tuesday. While traffic came to a halt, many accidents were witnessed too, thanks to pothole-ridden roads.
Residents living in BBMP quarters on Magadi Road were in for a shock on Monday night. A compound wall that the quarters shared with a Leprosy Hospital came crumbling down after heavy rain. The houses on the ground floor were flooded and BBMP staffers rushed to the spot in the morning to clear out the debris. While there were no casualties, the residents lost their belongings.
BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar said the wall collapsed because of a new building being constructed in the Leprosy Hospital premises. The construction blocked free flow of rainwater, which weakened the wall.
A resident said, “The hospital building was built three years ago and there was no way for the rainwater to drain out from the premises. The force of rainwater was enough to make the wall fall. We complained to the hospital authorities two months ago about the waterlogging but in vain. We lost our fridge and television to the water.”
The rest of Bengaluru was not spared either. Electronics City flyover and Sarjapur Road saw five accidents because of potholes and waterlogging. Opposite HSR Layout police station, a car hit the median and climbed over it. In another case, a speeding biker died in the same area.
BTM 2nd Stage, where former Mayor Gangambike had instructed officials to ensure zero flooding earlier this year, suffered the same fate once again.Age-old shops in commercial areas such as Chikpet took a hit as they were surrounded by water-filled narrow roads.
“Chickpet is a busy area. This area has been waterlogged for six to eight months as the roads were dug up. We have complained several times to the engineers but nothing has been done to tar the roads,” said Prakash Pirgal, president, Bangalore Wholesale Cloth Merchants Association.
Kanakapura Road was another victim of poor infrastructure. “After every rain, water comes up to the knee level. I have seen half a dozen vehicles lined up on the road, unable to move due to flooding. There are no proper street lights either. It takes three hours for me to reach my office in Kadubeesanahalli from Kanakapura, when it should take only one hour,” said Sujeet Nair, a software engineer.
The rain also brought down trees in RR Nagar, BTM Layout, Domlur, Banashankari Stage 2 and Jayanagar. Flooding was also reported at Cunningham Road, Bannerghatta Road, Shadab Nagar, Sanjeevani Nagar, Sahakar Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Kempapura, Kariyanna Layout and Balaji Layout.
As per IMD, the city received 38.9mm rain from 8.30am on Monday to 8.30am on Tuesday. 1.2mm of rainfall was received from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Tuesday.