In the worst case of flooding the city has witnessed in a decade, the south-eastern part of Bengaluru, home to the city’s IT hub, large residential areas and garment factories, was left inundated as three lakes overflowed after heavy rainfall.
For the first time in 10 years evacuation of those in ground floors of apartments and individual houses was carried out using dinghies and rubber boats in residential areas such as Kodichikkanahalli and Bilekahalli.
Thousands of residents in areas between Hosur Road and Bannerghatta Road had to deal with knee-deep water, and several hundreds families had to be supplied with fresh water and biscuits, as homes were inundated while a few others moved into neighbours’ homes on higher floors.
Stretches of the arterial Hosur and Bannerghetta roads were inundated, resulting in an excruciating traffic pile-up across the city.
Lakhs of commuters, including several schoolchildren, were stranded on the roads for hours, as their vehicles were stuck in jams.
The normally choked silk board junction virtually resembled a lake and some people even began fishing in the waters, many even displayed their catch of fish!
While the south-eastern part of the city received a massive 90 mm rainfall in 12 hours between 8.30 p.m. on Thursday and 8.30 a.m. on Friday, the average rainfall in the rest of the city was only 40 mm.
Illegal construction
However, the reason for flooding was the clogging of the inter-connecting channels between two arterial lakes in Arakere and Madiwala because of unplanned and illegal constructions. Even an attempt to build a new drain had hit a legal hurdle.
While first reports of flooding came from the Madiwala area as early as 3 a.m. on Friday, by the end of the day nearly 600 cars were submerged, 30 trees uprooted, and several cases of wall collapse were reported form affected parts of the city.
In October 2005, heavy rainfall had resulted in a similar situation when another series of lakes had overflowed.
