A fresh bout of rain on Saturday added to the chaos at Kodichikkanahalli. Residents of ground-floor houses, who had spent the first half of the day salvaging their belongings, had to deal with water gushing into their layout a second time. With no electricity since Friday morning, people have been relying on the goodwill of friends and councillors for food and essential supplies.
Many whose homes had been flooded on Friday said the water had destroyed all their electronic appliances, furniture and vehicles.
Anand Gopal, a resident of Duo Enclave Layout, said it had taken 15 people to rid his residence of the floodwater. “Just when we finished cleaning, water from the drain started gushing into our layout as the rain had begun again,” he said, and added that three of his cars, two two-wheelers, and some furniture could not be used anymore. He estimated to have suffered losses of Rs. 10 lakh.
“Where is the authorities’ disaster management plan for the city,” asked many livid residents.
Owing to severe flooding, the electricity supply in six large apartment complexes and some independent houses in BTM Layout and Kodichikkanahalli was disconnected as a precaution. “Although not having access to power is making the clean-up process difficult, we are glad that Bescom made this decision as it helps prevent any other problems,” Nirmala Kalyan, a resident of the locality, said.
Bandh worsens situationWith residents having to discard even essential items such as groceries, Saturday’s bandh only made the situation worse. Shops remained closed for most of the day.
Many of the Fire and Emergency Services personnel who were pumping out water ran short of diesel to run their machines. Besides residents, several shopkeepers also incurred huge losses as the water had damaged their products.
