Rain exposes Bengaluru’s poor infra yet again

Not joking: CM Bommai says only 2 areas affected in rain but areas and roads where waterlogging was reported are parts of the Outer Ring Road, Koramangala, Indiranagar, Double Road, Seshadripuram, K.R. Puram, among others

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Heavy rains continued to batter Bengaluru, resulting in flooding and inundation of several lowlying areas spread across the city. Visuals of waterlogged roads in Shivajinagar are making rounds on social media websites, where motorists can be seen trying hard to stop their twowheelers from being washed away. Incidents of tree fall, damage to certain infrastructure and power outage in several portions of the city have also been noted.

Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai while addressing media personnel, said that he has already directed the chief commissioner of BBMP to take up the repair of roads that have been damaged due to the rounds of rain.

“It is inappropriate to say that all of Bengaluru was affected due to the rains. Only two constituencies in the city have had severe damages,” he said. The CM has also said that the state government is gearing up to bear the brunt of the heavy rains and has even strengthened the SDRF team to attend to the rain damage across the city.

“The potholes have come up due to heavy rains. I have taken note of it and directed the BBMP chief commissioner to fill them up and repair the damaged roads at the earliest,” he said. Metro wall collapsed. The heavy downpour has led to the collapse of a retention wall and metal fencing of the Metro tunnel near the Mantri Square station, which falls within the limits of Sheshadripuram.

The collapse of the retaining wall has resulted in damage of several cars and bikes lined up on the road next to it. Over six vehicles have been damaged. After almost 10 hours after the incident, the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) deployed a team to clear all the debris from the spot.

Areas around Shivananda flyover flooded Almost a 100-meter stretch of road near the railway underpass of Shivananda Circle has washed away due to heavy downpours. The relatively lowlying area turned into a pool with rain water staying put even for over four hours in the wee hours.

A resident in a viral video can be seen claiming that the flooding has begun to occur only since the Shivananda circle flyover construction began. Prakash Pirgal, Secretary of Madhavnagar Resident Welfare Association, took note of the flooding and said, “Since the construction of the flyover, the flooding has increased to an extent where pedestrians cannot walk and the movement of vehicles is entirely disrupted.

The municipal authorities have not built ways for the exit of rainwater, leading to houses being flooded. The authorities must take up the issue with urgency.” Yellow alert till Oct 23 The city, since the night of October 19 and the early morning of October 20, has received 60.5 mm of rainfall. Since the beginning of this month, the city has received 311.5 mm of rainfall. In the next 24 hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that there will be a generally cloudy sky over the city while it might also experience a few spells of rain and thunderstorms.

The maximum temperature will not be reaching over 29 degrees Celsius and the minimum will not go lower than 19 degree Celsius. The IMD has issued a yellow alert and has forecasted that the city will continue to receive rain till October 23. Silkboard junction flooded.

The rains led Madiwala Lake to overflow, further causing the roads along the Silk Board junction to be waterlogged. The motorists taking these roads home had to be stranded for at least an hour and knee-deep water.

The accumulated water was over one and a half feet, disrupting the movement of vehicles and slowing traffic. Commuters are advised to travel through different routes as rain is expected in the coming days. The basement of Axis Bank in the vicinity was also flooded, leaving the ATM in a non-functional state and destroying Rs 15 lakh worth of cash inside.

Short circuit in a building A Twitter user brought to light smoke billowing out of a building in HSR layout. Housing Dukaan, an e-commerce company, the building had undergone an incident short circuit in the basement after the heavy rains. Suumit Shah, the founder of Dukaan confirmed that everybody on the premises was safe and the situation was under control.

However, he went on to say, “Rain for a few hours and this is what we’re experiencing now! Bangalore really needs to get this infrastructure issue sorted on priority, or else I’m sure founders won’t hesitate to make any other city - Silicon Valley of India.” Spectre of travails for upscale Epsilon.

The executives of top-notch companies, who are residents of