BENGALURU: Heavy pre-monsoon showers lashed Bengaluru with an average of 114 mm rainfall recorded on Tuesday night. Eleven areas in Bengaluru recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall, while 17 received over 50 mm of rain. This is the highest single-day rainfall for the city for May since 1909, India Meteorological Department officials said.
Two labourers, who were working on the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme Stage 5, drowned inside the pipeline after water gushed into it following heavy rain around 7 pm on Tuesday. The incident occurred near Upkar Layout in Jnanabharathi police limits.
Not just low-lying areas, even posh localities were flooded with water gushing into over 30 houses in Horamavu, Basaveshwara Nagar, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Hosakerehalli and Dattatreya Layout. HSR Layout, Dasarahalli Layout, Chokkasandra, Shettyhalli, Rajajinagar, Basaveshwara Nagar and UB City too reported flooding. In all, 16 trees were uprooted in the city.
Overflowing manholes affected traffic movement on Racecourse Road, while the ongoing white-topping works caused traffic jams in Malleswaram. The road works that started in March were to be completed by May 10.
At Yetaganahalli near Devanahalli, motorists were forced to abandon their vehicles and walk for nearly 3 km as an underpass was flooded. In Rajarajeshwari Nagar, residents baled out water from their homes, while apartment dwellers pumped rainwater out of their basements on Wednesday morning. “No BBMP officials have come to help us. Every time it rains, we are left to fend for ourselves,” said Prasad, a resident.
CM announces D25,000 aid to damaged homes
CM Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday announced a compensation of D25,000 to families living in each of the houses that were flooded following Tuesday’s heavy downpour. Bommai visited rain-hit areas of Hosakerehalli and Rajarajeshwarinagar.