BENGALURU: Heavy rains lashed Bengaluru overnight on Tuesday, exposing poor infrastructure in the city, with roads getting flooded, houses inundated and more than 20 trees uprooted.The wet weather in the city will continue as the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre has forecast scattered rainfall and thunderstorms over the next five days. “While the intensity may vary, the state can expect scattered, light to moderate rainfall,” said a KSNDMC official.BBMP officials said houses were flooded at Maruthinagar, Horamavu, Hennur, RT Nagar, Mariyappanapalya, Kempapura, Nagasandra, HBR Layout, Basavanapura and Dollars’ Colony.
Singapura Lake near Vidyaranyapura overflowed, flooding roads and houses. “Fish from the lake were on the road and security guards from apartments were seen catching them. Many localities in Vidyaranyapura were flooded and cars were submerged,” said Nagendra, a local resident.Also, Manyata Tech Park in Nagawara and the roads leading to it were flooded with rainwater mixed with sewage. Areas around the park were cut off from the rest of the city.
Urban transport expert Sanjeev Dyamannavar said, “It was a nightmare this morning. On the Dasarahalli Road leading to the Park, water had risen up to 2 feet and my car was submerged. Areas were flooded as two major rajakaluves converge here,” he said.Several areas were in Hebbal too were flooded, and residents complained that storm water drains overflowed as they were not cleaned. “We have been asking the BBMP to increase the height of the retaining wall for the last 6-7 years, but to no avail,” said a resident.
Magadi Road, Jayanagar, Davis Road, BTM Layout, RT Nagar and Sanjaynagar witnessed power cuts throughout Tuesday night. “Our engineers are working on it and issues have been resolved. Only RT Nagar had technical issues but that will be solved soon,” a BESCOM official said.
BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad, who was on city rounds, said, “East, Mahadevpura, Yelahanka and Dasarahalli zones were the most-affected. Drains from these zones flow into Hebbal valley which connects to Hennur. Since rainfall was between 50 and 100 mm, storm water drains overflowed and low-lying areas were inundated. In some areas, SWDs have been encroached. The solution is not raising the height of retaining walls.”