As rain poured for hours on Monday night, residents in south and east Bengaluru were woken up by water gushing into their homes. Many spent the night and subsequent morning flushing water out of their homes.
By Tuesday evening, they were staring at the prospect of another sleepless night as dark clouds gathered over the entire city.
By Tuesday morning, some of the worst affected areas were Wilson Garden, Shanti Nagar, Koramangala 4th Block, HSR Layout, Murugeshpalya, Bilekahalli and Anugraha Layout. Dinghies were pressed into service in Shantinagar and Koramangala to rescue stranded residents.
In HSR Layout and Koramangala, sewage from overflowing manholes and drains entered the sumps, which eventually led to a shortage of drinking water.
Earth movers deployed
In Koramangala, water had damaged mattresses, furniture and documents in several houses. Shinivagulu Tank (ST) Bed Layout was built on a tank bed in the late eighties and has been prone to flooding during heavy rain. However, residents say this is the first time the situation has been this bad.
An earth mover was pressed into service to remove tonnes of garbage and muck from the storm water drain near 80 Feet Road. However, it was too little too late. By then, the basements and ground floors of several houses had been filled with sewage.
Panic at Anugraha Layout
In Anugraha Layout near Kadubeesanahalli, which was also one of the worst affected areas in the July 2016 floods, residents panicked. Many left their houses the moment water levels started receding. Several families checked into hotels nearby.
S. Sethumadhava, a resident of Anugraha Layout near Kodichikkanahalli, said that water had risen to more than five feet on the streets by Tuesday morning. "BBMP officials took over four hours to reach the spot," he said. In parts of Murugeshpalya, the basement of every residential building was flooded.
More worries on the horizon
Although the water receded by afternoon, residents got jittery in the evening due to a fresh spell of rain.
Suma Kiran, a resident of Koramangala, said, "There is more rain and now we don’t even have electricity. Although officials had come to pump water out, they couldn't get the machine to work. I don't know what's going to happen to us."
