Monsoon is yet to set in, but already the rain has put Bengaluru’s administrators in a tight spot. Even with an average rainfall of 10.5 cm on Sunday night, the city found itself deploying dinghies with essential supplies and tractor trailers to the rescue of those stranded in knee-deep water.
Some of the worst affected areas include Manyata Tech Park, BTM Layout, Ejipura Junction, HSR Layout 5th and 6th sectors and Silk Board Junction.
This time too it was no exception for Sai Layout, infamous for flooding the moment it rains. The low-lying area again flooded up to chest level, forcing people, including senior citizens, to wade through it, before being rescued by tractor trolleys.
Some of the areas that saw flood water entering the houses include Wilson Garden, HSR Layout, Nandagokula Layout in Nagavara, HBR Layout 5th block, Hennur, Sai Layout, Manyata Tech Park, ST Bed Layout in Koramangala, and Silk Board.
Videos of people trying to remove the almost knee-deep water from their homes in BTM layout with mugs and buckets are circulating on social media.
People who had to reach office, come rain or shine, from low-lying areas, hitched a hike in the dinghies deployed by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), to navigate waterlogged roads.
At Silk Board, a traffic nightmare for Bengaluru even on good days, things got a bit out of hand when knee-level water stagnation caused vehicles to be pulled over, slowing the traffic to almost a standstill. Not wanting to wade through the knee-deep water, commuters could be spotted jumping over the windows of a BMTC bus.
Sasidhar P G, a bus passenger, who was forced to jump out of the windows, said: "The driver said the bus couldn’t move further, but the police insisted we continue. After reaching this spot, the bus stopped because water entered the engine." His fellow passenger, Nandini, who was returning from a nearby hospital said: "I am coming from the hospital after treatment. We really had to struggle to get home safe. If authorities take action faster, it will be good." "This is a government failure. They need to take precautions,” insisted Ubhay Adikari, a local resident near Silk Board.
“There is a metro nearby — they should coordinate with metro officials and clear the waterlogging in this area,” added Adikari who claimed that the waterlogged roads, which resulted in heavy traffic in the area, were not pumped out for more than five hours.
“Even ambulances were getting stuck,” he added.
Uprooted trees served as yet another challenge to BBMP, especially in the Cubbon Park area where several fallen trees had to be towed away from roads with the help of earthmovers. Trees fell and damaged vehicles in Jayanagar, too. Other areas where trees were seen splayed on the roads include Cowl Bazaar and Infantry Road.
Earthmovers were also seen trying to push the water from the streets at the Silk Board junction.
Manyata Tech Park, home to many multinationals, looked almost like a lake from above. With over two feet of water blocking the entrances, commuting to offices became an adventure for many.
Although scenes on the road were quite familiar to most, as they are almost a ritual during rainy seasons, rain this heavy in May is not common said many hobby weather watchers.
According to Namma Karnataka Weather, a handle in X followed by 18,000 people, the heavy rain on Sunday night was the heaviest for the year. “The big deluge last night has been the heaviest for the year. Get ready for some Traffic snarls this morning,” the weather enthusiast wrote on X.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, Bengaluru city received 105.5 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am on May 18 and 8.30 am on May 19. The last time it rained this heavy in Bengaluru during this month was on May 18, 2022.
Incidentally, the all-time record for May stands at 153.9 mm, which was set on May 6, 1909.
Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.
