Homes flooded & roads choked, yet again, after another rain spell

Bengaluru: Intermittent thundershowers pounded many parts of Bengaluru from Saturday night through Sunday evening, resulting in the familiar sight of waterlogged streets, tree falls and traffic jams. 

Western, southwestern, southern, and northeastern localities were the worst-affected. 

Rainwater entered at least 100 homes in BEML Layout, RR Nagar, after a spell of heavy overnight rainfall. The railway tracks at the Kengeri station were also inundated. At least one lake is reported to have overflowed. 

Basavaraj, a resident of BEML Layout, said the problem in their area had persisted for several years now because of the ongoing work to remodel the stormwater drain. 

"The drain was closed for years and was reopened only recently. Last night's heavy rains caused the water to overflow," the resident said and added that BBMP workers visited to take remedial action. 

Posts shared on X (formerly Twitter) showed how dire the situation was in BEML Layout. 

Charudath Ramesh, a user, explained that the flooding was caused by the "slow and lethargic" pace of the construction of stormwater drains, which has been going on for the last four years. 

"In some cases, the water has reached 3 to 4 feet... entered more than 20-30 cars in the locality. More than 100 houses have been affected due to water entering into houses,” the user said. 

The flash floods caused by overnight rains washed away a recently asphalted portion of Mysuru Road and resulted in traffic snarls in parts of the city. 

A KSRTC bus broke down there, jamming traffic on Mysuru Road. 

Hosur Main Road, near Roopena Agrahara, also experienced traffic snarls in the early hours of Sunday morning due to waterlogged roads. 

Vehicle users complained about Hosa Road, near Parappana Agrahara, which is cratered with potholes. 

Sudarshan Shastry, a resident of Owners Court Layout, Kasavanahalli, who travels to Hosa Road daily, told DH: "The road is in a really bad state and can barely be called a road. People have to look for motorable areas of the road to go safely as there are so many potholes. The bad condition of the road can be attributed to the Cauvery Phase V work being done on the road. The authorities did fill up some potholes, but it is not enough." 

Additionally, rainfall on Sunday evening resulted in waterlogging and traffic congestion at Nagavara Junction, Okalipuram railway underbridge, Silk Board Junction, Vaddarapalya (Mahadevapura Zone), Vidya Nagar (Dasarahalli Zone), Bommanahalli, Sunshine Layout Main Road, Domlur Main Road, MS Palya, and Vidyaranyapura. 

Tree falls were reported from Sahakaranagar, Kottigepalya (RR Nagar Zone), Subramanyanagar 17th Cross and other areas, which were cleared by the BBMP's forest and control room teams. 

BBMP Control Room Supervisor K Subrahmanya reported that they had cleared eight fallen trees in Kammanahalli, Indiranagar, Rajajinagar, Bomanahalli and RR Nagar, and attended to four blocked drain or drain overflow complaints. "There have not been any complaints about serious injury or emergency situation," he said. 

Rainfall was also reported in Padmanabhanagar, Girinagar, Horamavu, Vijaya Bank Layout, CV Raman Nagar, Basaveshwara Nagar, Kaggadasapura, HRBR Layout, Kalyan Nagar, Varthur, Rajajinagar, and Yeshwantpur. 

The BBMP claimed its officials and disaster management teams carried out dewatering works on the flooded roads. They unclogged drains and used pump sets to drain water out, the civic body added. 

RR Nagar battered by 177.6 mm of rainfall

Weather Union, which aggregates weather information volunteered by private weather stations, reported that RR Nagar received a whopping 177.6 mm of rainfall, including more than 140 mm by morning alone. 

Banashankari received 94.2 mm, Bannerghatta Road 76 mm, JP Nagar 67.2 mm, Vijayanagar 59.6 mm, Jayanagar 46.6 mm, Rajajinagar 43.8 mm, Jalahalli 43.4 mm, Sahakaranagar 30.6 mm, BTM Layout 21.8 mm, and Electronics City 19.8 mm. 

Bengaluru city received 27.4 mm and HAL airport 17.6 mm between Saturday and Sunday evening (8.30 pm), while Kempegowda International Airport got 41.4 mm and GKVK recorded 40.4 mm in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am, Sunday. 

An official in the India Meteorological Department (IMD) cautioned that these figures do not capture the rainfall data from western Bengaluru areas like RR Nagar, Kengeri and Nagarabhavi, which received very heavy rainfall. 

The IMD has forecast a generally cloudy sky with light to moderate rain/thundershowers for Monday.