
BENGALURU: Heavy rain that started around 4pm Sunday brought the city to a standstill.
Thunderstorms brought down 118 trees and 128 branches, and left many roads inundated. Nearly half of the tree fall incidents happened on arterial roads, leading to traffic blocks and congestion through Sunday evening. IMD recorded 103.5mm rainfall on Sunday.
According to Varuna Mitra, Vidyapeeta recorded highest rainfall of 86.50mm, Cottonpet 84.50mm, Hampinagar and Horamavu 80mm each, and Kodigehalli 78.50mm. IMD issued an orange alert at 10pm, valid for three hours.
Many roads turned into rivers in a short span of time and vehicle users struggled to wade through the waterlogged roads. Severe traffic jams were reported from Airport Road, Hosur Road, Peenya, Koramangala, Bannerghatta Road, Mysuru Road, Hebbal and other areas. Due to waterlogging, severe congestion was reported on the Bengaluru-Mysuru access controlled highway.
In some areas, trees fell on cars, autos, trucks and other vehicles. No casualties were reported. As per BBMP data, of the 118 tree fall cases, 48 were attended to, and of the 128 branch fall, 99 were attended to. However, residents said tree and branch fall incidents could be much higher as the rain continued unabated.
A BMTC bus with over 20 passengers was stranded in the flooded Shivananda Circle underpass. The passengers, driver and conductor got out safely. The public cleared plastic covers, twigs and other trash that had blocked the drains and pushed the bus out from the underpass. There were also reports of water entering Manjunath Nagar.
Those who preferred to stay indoors were not spared the rain havoc as some areas experienced lengthy power outages. Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said officials have taken precautionary steps to avert rain damage.
“It is raining heavily. Staff at BBMP control rooms are alert. Steps have been taken to ensure free flow of rainwater into storm water drains and prevent waterlogging,” Shivakumar said.
BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath directed the Palike top brass to get on to the streets and attend to rain-related complaints.