An electricity pole that fell after heavy winds and rains. | Photo Credit: K. MURALI KUMAR
Heavy rains lashing the city over the last two days has again exposed the chinks in the civic infrastructure and lack of preparedness on part of the civic body, as familiar scenes of residential pockets facing flood-like situation repeated on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued yellow alert to Bengaluru over the next two days, raising fears of more travails for its residents.
After Tuesday’s rain, at Sai Layout in Horamavu near K.R. Puram — a pocket that has flooded during every spell of rain since May this year — water entered a few homes as drains overflowed. “We have been facing floods from the last five years and the BBMP is not ready to solve rain-related problems in the area. Many owners of the houses here have shifted to various other areas after repeated flooding. No tenants want to come here because of repeated flooding,” Dayanand, a resident of the layout, said.
Many areas flooded
“IMD has forecast rains for the city till August 5. We are geared to tackle any eventualities. Due to Tuesday’s rain, water entered various houses in Pai Layout, Sai Layout and Naggapa Reddy Layout in K.R. Puram where we are taking all necessary actions to avoid such a situation in future,” Tushar Giri Nath, BBMP Chief Commissioner, said.
A senior official from BBMP said that the civic body has done a study and found out that a railway bridge being constructed across the stormwater drain is a cause for the flooding in this area and the BBMP, along with proper coordination with Railways, will take up the work to avoid flooding.
Meanwhile, an autorickshaw parked in Chamarajpet was damaged after a huge tree fell on it following heavy rains on Tuesday. According to the police, there were no casualties.
Roads near Manyata Tech Park was flooded on Tuesday night causing inconvenience to motorists and the traffic was hit on the stretch. Sharath, a commuter from Hebbal, said: “Roads near Manyata Tech Park always cause traffic snarls during rainy days. The authorities don’t even bother to take appropriate measures to overcome these issues.”
Uprooted trees, overflowing drains, traffic jams
The control room of the BBMP has received several complaints regarding rain damage on Tuesday and Wednesday. A BBMP official from the control room said, “Trees were uprooted in R.T. Nagar, Kasturaba Road, R.V. Road, Rajajinagar and Jayanagar. No casualties were reported.”
“We have received complaints from K.R. Puram, Bommanahalli, Sai Layout, HBR Layout, Ramamurthy Nagar, Sahakar Nagar, Thanisandra, R.R. Nagar, Maruthi Nagar and Hebbal, where water entered a few homes as drains overflowed,” officials added.
Rain caused traffic jam in many parts, especially in the Central Business District (CBD) and key arterial roads. According to Bengaluru Traffic Police, traffic snarls were reported in Outer ring Road, Manyata tech park, Hebbal, Yelahanka, Airport road, Tumakuru Road, Mysuru Road, Yeshwanthpur, Bannerghatta Road, Hosur Road, Bellandur, HSR Layout, and Kanakapura Road.
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