Flash floods in Bengaluru: Hapless Koramangala bears brunt of heaviest downpour in 127 years

Bengaluru woke up to flash floods in several localities on Wednesday after a night of unprecedented heavy rainfall left a trail of destruction in the city. Among the worst hit is the ST Bed locality in Koramangala, where people were forced to walk through the streets in waist-deep rainwater and parked vehicles are almost sinking in the flooded basements. Recording 180mm in barely three hours on Tuesday, the city has not witnessed such a heavy downpour since 1890, _IANS_ reported . “The downpour in just three hours (3 am to 6 am) was so heavy that storm water drains could not take the load, resulting in water overflowing on to several roads and inundating low-lying areas,” Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika (BBMP) commissioner Manjunatha Prasad was quoted as saying. Ejipura, Jayanagar, JP Nagar, BTM Layout, Bannerghatta Road and several pockets of Indiranagar were also severely affected by the record rain in the city, The Times of India reported. [caption id=“attachment_3935265” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] While the rain flooded many parts of the city, most affected were South and West Bengaluru. Image courtesy: Facebook/Priya Chetty-Rajagopal[/caption] The torrential rain uprooted trees, twisted electric poles and snapped cable lines in upscale residential areas, disrupting power supply.

Firstpost spoke with Priya Chetty-Rajagopal, who posted a series of images showing the extent of damage the deluge has caused in Bengaluru. She said the situation is getting better, but is still far from safe. “The situation today is much better than it was yesterday. But just one more spell of rain and we’ll go back to another flood,” she said. “As of now, it’s only the low-lying areas of the city which face trouble. The other areas are safe for now. But Koramangla, for instance, still doesn’t have electricity.” The worst part, she said, is how this happens repeatedly. “This happens every single year. And yet we seem to be surprised every time,” she said. City Mayor G Padmavathi said, “BBMP officials have been ordered to clean the drains and respond to public issues immediately.” Civic officials used makeshift boats on Tuesday to rescue the stranded residents in some areas while power outages led to blackouts for hours since early morning in several areas. “We received distress calls and complaints from hundreds of those affected regarding overflowing of drains, and rainwater entering basements, and ground floor houses and apartments,” a BBMP official said. [caption id=“attachment_3935271” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] The torrential rain uprooted trees, twisted electric poles and snapped cable lines in upscale residential areas, disrupting power supply. Image courtesy: Facebook/ Priya Chetty-Rajagopal[/caption] The flash floods severely hit the bus transport in the city, leaving many commuters stranded. The Shantinagar bus depot  located near a storm water drain, was inundated making it impossible for the drivers and conductors to join  duty,  Deccan Chronicle reported. As long power cuts were observed across Bengaluru, the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) helpline remained unreachable throughout the day. The Bellandur Lake, the largest of the 262 lakes and tanks in the city, was seen covered in toxic foam after the downpour. Several arterial roads, subways, and underbridges were waterlogged, slowing vehicular movement and causing traffic snarls. The flights at the Kempegowda International Airport, however, remained unaffected. [caption id=“attachment_3935281” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] With at least 100 houses flooded and people stranded in other parts, rubber boats were called in to ferry many to safety. Image courtesy: Facebook/ Priya Chetty-Rajagopal[/caption] Scientist CN Prabhu of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said the weather monitoring system could not predict the heaviest rainfall in the city in 127 years. “We had forecast a moderate rainfall but it developed into much heavier than we could predict. It is certainly 3-4 times heavier than the prediction,” Prabhu said. “There was a thick patch of clouds over the city that caused the downpour. Being the monsoon season, heavy rains are not unusual,” Prabhu added. According to the Met Department, a few spells of rain are likely to continue over the next few days in the city. With inputs from IANS