In the worst case of flooding the city has witnessed in a decade, large parts of south eastern part of Bengaluru, home to the city’s IT hub with large residential areas and garment factories, was left inundated as three lakes overflowed on Friday.
The first flood reports came from Madiwala at 3 a.m. on Friday, and by end of day, nearly 600 cars were submerged, 30 trees uprooted and several cases of wall collapse reported in the city.
For the first time in 10 years, those in ground floor apartments and individual houses were evacuated using dinghies in Kodichikkanahalli and Bilekahalli.
People in localities between Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road were in knee-deep water, and several hundred families had to be given freshwater and biscuits as relief. Many moved into neighbours’ homes on higher floors.
Stretches of arterial Hosur and Bannerghetta roads faced flooding, resulting in an excruciating traffic pile. Lakhs of commuters, including school children, were stranded for hours. The normally choked Silk Board junction virtually resembled a lake and some people even began fishing in the waters.
While the southeast received a torrential 90 mm of rain between 8.30 p.m. on Thursday and 8.30 a.m. on Friday, the average in the rest of the city was 40 mm.
Updates:
18.45 pm: Chief Fire Officer Basavanna says his personnel have rescued 35 people, including a pregnant woman, besides pets, in Kodichikkanahalli since morning. He says they will move the slabs of the footpath to ensure smooth flow of water to the Madiwala Lake.
18.00 pm: Twelve-year-old Vibha and her family, who lived in the ground floor of a two storey house in Kodichikanahalli, woke early in the morning to see water was up to their knees. The family that has lived in the area for five years hurried up to the first floor. Vibha's mother Usha, who is a school teacher, said it was the first time she had seen a situation like this. Fire and Emergency Services personnel delivered them water and food packets. They are praying that the situation won't get worse. Most of the children from the area did not go to school.
17.30 pm: Traffic was slow in front of Silk Board Institute with water still pouring in from the nearby drain.
14.05 pm: Bilekahalli councillor Narayan Raju says the work on the raja kaluve at Kodichikkanahalli has stalled. Until the work is completed, floods may recur in the area, he says.
13.50 pm: As many as 150 fire and emergency personnel on the ground, many without any food, since 5.30 am.
13.30 pm: Around 20 people have been evacuated so far.
12.40 pm: People wade through waist-deep water at a street in Bengaluru on Friday.
12.35 pm: 500 houses affected in Kodichikanahalli.
12. 15 pm: Officials request public to keep mains switched off. People living on ground floors have moved upstairs as water started rising in the middle of the night.
12.10 pm: Firemen warn that it could become dangerous as more rains are forecast and urge people to move out. Food, water, milk and biscuits are being distributed to the stranded.
12.05 pm:
The water-logged underpass on Golf Course Road. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy
11.55 am: Fire department has deployed boats to move people out of flooded areas in Kodichikkanahalli, but most are waiting it out in the that for water will recede.
11. 40 am: According to reports, parts of Hongasandra and H.S.R. Layout were also flooded following incessant rains that have been lashing the city since Thursday night.
Uprooting of more than 30 trees were reported from Rajkumar Road, Basavanagudi, Ragigudda, Jayanagar 9th Cross.
Meanwhile, commuters, who had braced for traffic snarls due to inundation of major arterial roads from the past three days, probably woke up to their worst nightmare on Friday morning.
Incessant rains and lake breach inundated all major arterial roads to the extent that there was water up to three feet on many of these roads on Friday morning.
No major arterial road was an exception. Old Madras Road, Hosur Road, Outer Ring Road, Bannerghatta Road and Ballari Road faced traffic jams and witnessed bumper to bumper traffic as crucial junctions on these roads were waterlogged.
Veerasandra Junction, the NICE Road junction below Electronics City flyover on Hosur Main Road was inundated since morning, throwing the entire traffic on the crucial IT corridor out of gear. Two fire tenders were pitched to pump out water from the junction and was cleared for traffic at 11 am. Till then peak hour traffic on the Hosur Road had come to a stand still, disrupting commute patterns in the area.
One of the worst-hit roads seems to be Bannerghatta Road where areas off the critical arterial road has seen inundation due to lake breaches. The Bilekahalli junction on the road is inundated as well bringing the traffic to a standstill.
The K.R. Puram–Tin Factory junction and the down ramp to Old Madras Road from K.R. Puram flyover has been packed for many hours now, as work is still ongoing at the Tin Factory junction to clear the stagnant water. This disrupted traffic towards the IT corridor and Whitefield again.
Salem Railway Under Bridge (RUB) that had been posing a serious hurdle for traffic on ORR since Tuesday continues to remain a concern, as it still remains inundated disrupting traffic flow on the crucial ORR. Traffic on this part of the ORR has almost come to a standstill and diversion into the adjoining areas has also led to traffic snarls in residential areas.
Not just these outer areas, many roads within the core city like Richmond Road, Platform Road near Mantri Mall, Pottery Road have also seen inundation leading to slow moving traffic.
R. Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of police (Traffic), said that the incessant rains and inundation of crucial arterial roads had put the traffic in the city out of gears. “We, along with Fire and Emergency Services, have been trying to remove water from these inundated roads clearing them for traffic. But even after clearing water, we observe that the waterlogging has created large potholes and bad road stretches which have drastically brought down the traffic speeds on the city’s roads in the last one week,” he said.
