Pre-monsoon showers lashed Bengaluru for the second consecutive day, bringing the city to a standstill on Friday evening. It was not just commuters who were heading home after work who were hit.
A large number of people who were heading to their constituencies outside Bengaluru to cast their vote on Saturday had to clamour for modes of transport. Their situation was exacerbated by the fact that several buses had been roped in for election duty.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had already announced that bus services will be hit on May 11 and 12, as it would be providing around 4,000 buses for election duty.
KSRTC officials said Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses had been deployed to ferry passengers to nearby destinations, such as Tumakuru, Bidadi, Nelamangala and Mysuru.
Voters' woes
Nandini H., a voter who decided to drive down to Mysuru from Bengaluru to cast her vote, said her travel time increased by at least two hours owing to rain. “I started around 4.30 p.m. before the peak hour, but got stuck near Kengeri. It took me nearly five hours to reach Mysuru when it usually takes around three,” she said.
Niha Noorain, employee of a start-up who had to take a bus to Mysuru, said, "I had to travel from Whitefield to Satellite bus stand on Mysuru Road. It took me at least two hours to get to HAL Airport Road. The roads were inundated. I wanted to get to the Indiranagar metro station, but couldn't find any transport. I finally found a shared cab till the metro station. It took me 40 minutes to reach Deepanjali Nagar by metro and then take a bus to Mysuru."
BBMP awash with complaints
Complaints of tree or branch falls flooded the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) control room from several areas, including Hanumanthanagar, Avahalli, Girinagar, Sreenivasanagar 50 Feet Road, Hoskerehalli, Chandra Layout, Ramamurthynagar, Banaswadi, HBR Layout, Indiranagar, Srinagar and J.P. Nagar third phase. Apart from complaints of roads being inundated, water had entered some houses on Indiranagar 14th cross. In Hebbal, water from a rajakaluve had overflown on to the road.
Meanwhile, citizens also complained of broken tree branches from previous rains remaining on the streets. Raghunathan Padmanabhan, a resident of Vidyaranyapura, said multiple requests to the BBMP to remove branches which had fallen near Durga Devi temple a week ago have gone in vain. “We paid money and got the branches that fell within our compound removed. The BBMP officials now say it is not their job,” he said.
Power interruptions
Residents also had to put up with interruptions in power supply, which, people complained, has increasingly become a common feature every time it rains. Bangalore Electricity Supply Company officials said there was no major damage during Friday’s rain, but interruptions due to feeder faults were reported.
