BENGALURU: Homes and apartment complexes next to stormwater drains were flooded due to the sudden rains on Monday. Homes in Kurubarahalli, Kalyan Nagar, Horamavu, Ramamurthy Nagar and other areas were flooded with rainwater.
Several roads in the city turned into rivers, submerging two-wheelers and cars, as vehicles navigated slowly through stagnant water.
Despite the inspection by Urban Development Additional Secretary Tushar Girinath and Greater Bengaluru Authority Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao to finish all work to prevent flooding in Sai Layout, the area was flooded again. Layout residents told TNIE that their situation is horrible and that all claims by officials that they had taken steps to prevent flooding have gone down the drain. The waterlogged roads, overflowing stormwater drains and manholes just indicated that the five city corporations aren’t doing enough to prevent flooding, as against its claims and back-to-back inspections on monsoon preparedness.
Areas like KR Market, Byatarayanapura, Jayanagar, JP Nagar, Majestic, Malleswaram, Vasanthnagar, Shivajinagar, Cunningham Road, Banaswadi, Chikkajala, Hennur, Hebbal, Bagalur, Indiranagar, Goraguntepalya, HBR Layout and other areas came under heavy rain.
Some shops in Shivajinagar and Commercial Street were flooded, while underpasses at Cantonment, KR Circle, Sumanahalli, Vidyashilp, and the railway underpass near Mall of Asia were inundated. Manyata Tech Park was flooded again.
The sudden downpour caught many heading home after the day’s work by surprise. Former corporator M Shivaraj who visited flooded homes in JC Nagar, said, “Homes were flooded as stormwater drains were blocked by debris and construction material being dumped at the drain inlet. We immediately summoned a JCB and cleared the block, following which water drained out of the homes.”
According to rainfall data from Varuna Mitra, Byatarayanapura clocked 65.5mm rain, Banaswadi 61mm, Manorayanapalya 55mm, and Vishwanath Nagenahalli and Pulikeshinagar recorded 46mm.
SEVERE TRAFFIC CONGESTION
As expected, Monday evening’s rain brought traffic to a grinding halt, and severe congestion was reported across the city, especially on Outer Ring Road and key tech corridors. Commuters heading home spent long hours on the road as several stretches were blocked due to waterlogging. Ongoing construction work worsened the situation after the rain.According to Bengaluru Traffic Police, slow-moving traffic was reported due to waterlogging at several locations, including Manyata Tech Park towards Ring Road, Dommasandra, Kodathi Gate, Vibgyor Cross, Varthur Road, Cunningham Road, GRT Junction and Cauvery Junction. Due to severe waterlogging, Vidyashilp and railway underpasses at Sanjaynagar were temporarily closed. Traffic movement was also affected after a tree branch fell near Kodigehalli.