Following overnight continuous rains, Bengaluru city on Monday woke up to waterlogged roads and flooded homes.
The basements of residential homes were flooded, there were uprooted trees and people struggling to wade through flooded stretches on main and arterial roads. The situation looked grim as several videos and photos were posted on social media by the harried netizens even as the weatherman predicted copious rainfall across the state for next four days, till September 9.
A citizen in the city, Roops tweeted, “My house got flooded around 3.30 a.m., ankle deep & water hasn’t receded yet. No power since 9 p.m. last night!
It’s flowing rivers outside my building & the whole society is submerged in water!!!!
Itni barish to roj hoti he Mumbai me!!!
Bangalore 😡”
The tractors are back out in #Bengaluru's residential layouts 🚜
This is from the posh Sunny Brooks Layout at Sarjapur road.
Is it time for RWAs to consider investing in tractors as a mode of transport arnd the community during rains?#BengaluruRain pic.twitter.com/JCIqfOxYJc— Gautam (@gautyou) September 5, 2022
People living in Karnataka’s seaside belt have been asked not to venture into the seas during the constant rains. A yellow alert has been issued to people living in Kodagu, Shivamogga, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Chikmagalur districts. Heavy rains are expected to lash Karnataka’s northern districts of Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri and Davangere. A massive traffic jam was witnessed on Bengaluru’s Marathahalli-Silk Board Junction Road which connects Bengaluru’s IT hub.
The IT companies complained against the state government as they stated they were losing Rs 200-odd crore due to their employees reaching offices five hours late. Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai pledged to hold talks and give them compensation in an effort to quench their fury.
Traffic movement also was crippled on the Outer Ring Road near Ecospace, Bellandur KR Market and surrounding areas. In a gloomy incident, a man was rescued by the local security guards after he was stuck on the road due to waterlogging and was not able to cross the road.
In some areas like Varthur, rafts and boats have been deployed to evacuate stranded people. The fire department and other government departments are carrying out relief operations and trying to pump out the waterlogged arterial roads to restore traffic. The authorities also have issued a traffic advisory asking residents to avoid going out of their homes except for emergencies and avoid sending their children to school. The situation in Bengaluru’s northern parts also was harsh.
The Kempegowda International Airport in the area received 109 mm of rainfall in the intervening night between Sunday and Monday. The air passengers complained about waterlogging at parking areas outside the terminal. Flight services also were disrupted at the airport, as many as six flights including two international planes heading to Bengaluru city from various destinations were diverted to Chennai Airport. This is the second time in a week that Bengaluru is witnessing such severe waterlogging on many arterial roads.
Bengalureans joked through their misery, “Bellandur Lake has come to home…”