BENGALURU: In less than four hours up to 8.30 pm on Monday, Bengaluru received 4 cm of rainfall. Accordingly, the weathermen have also issued a yellow alert of heavy rainfall for the next four days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city received 40.2 mm rainfall (4 cm), while the HAL Airport recorded 21.6 mm (2 cm). This was sufficient to bring Bengaluru to a standstill.
As Bengalureans were stranded across the city amidst the rain, those in low-lying areas were badly affected owing to water stagnation -- especially in the area behind Banaswadi railway station, Bagalkunte, Guraguntepalya, Nelamanagala, Tumakuru Road, Koramanagala, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, and other parts of the city.To make matters worse, the BBMP Control Room was not reachable for citizens as the phone lines had got disrupted due to the sudden downpour.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta told The New Indian Express that directives have been given to officials of the control room to avail a SIM card, so that a phone can be kept handy to ensure citizens’ grievances are addressed. Also, instructions have been issued to ensure that there are no problems or untoward incidents.
IMD Bengaluru Director in-charge Geeta Agnihotri informed that most parts of the state, including the Ghat sections, Coastal and South-interior Karnataka will experience heavy rainfall for the next four to five days because of the formation of multiple systems. Under their influence, a yellow alert has been issued in most parts of Karnataka for the next few days.
Geeta said the city on Sunday had received 1 mm rainfall, while the HAL Airport had recorded 2.4 mm of rain. The international airport, however, recorded 36 mm rainfall.