When the skies opened up suddenly on Saturday
afternoon, citizens seemed to be caught unawares.
The heavy rain that lasted for over three hours
crippled the city. Roads turned into rivulets, houses
were flooded and trees uprooted in a few low lying
areas.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)
control rooms were flooded with distress calls from
the citizens.
Banashankari and K.R. Road were the most affected
areas because of the tree falls. An autorickshaw was
badly damaged when a tree fell on it on K.R. Road.
The other areas where tree falls were reported
included ISRO Layout, Hanumanthanagar, Bapuji Nagar,
Vasanth Nagar, Bagalagunte and Dasarahalli. At
H.B.R. Layout, Soundarya Layout and K.P. Agrahara,
the rain waters inundated a few houses. Water logging
was also reported at M.S. Building and Kanteerava
Stadium.
Traffic jams
The vehicular movement across the city was badly
affected. Bumper to bumper traffic was witnessed on
all arterial and sub-arterial roads. Two-wheeler riders
were worst affected. Many sought shelter under the
awnings of road-side shops and under the flyovers. “It
took me nearly three hours to reach Shivajinagar from
Kanakapura Road. The rain water was seeing through
the roof of the BMTC bus,” said a citizen, who spoke
to The Hindu on condition of anonymity.
The underpasses in many areas were also flooded.
The BBMP officials, who were attending to the rain-
related complaints, claimed that they were prepared to
tackle any eventuality. They said that 10 control rooms
were equipped with men and material and would
function round-the-clock.
Traffic in the central business district was disrupted
due to heavy rains on Saturday.
Bus stranded at K.H. Road
A KSRTC volvo bus stranded in the middle of the busy
K.H. Road led to huge traffic snarls. Traffic police
rushed to the spot and towed the bus to the stand .
By then, traffic piled up on adjacent roads including
Hosur Road, Kasturba Road, M.G. Road, and Lalbagh
Road. Water logging on the roads cause slow
movement as two-wheeler riders parked their vehicles
on the roadside to take shelter at shops and
commercial establishments on the roads.
State of buses
As rain lashed the city, commuters in buses were mute
witness to water pouring inside the buses along with
strong winds pushing waters through window panes.
"Unfortunately I couldn't even close my side of the
window, it was totally stuck, and see how wet I am,"
complained Vinaya who was travelling from KSIT on
Kanakapura Main Road to Sajjan Rao Circle. As it
poured, even the driver of the crowded bus on
Kanakapura Road had to navigate with difficulty as the
wipers went motionless and the conductor was left
wiping the wind-shield. People getting off the bus
landed in pools of water at most bus stops.
http://m.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/bengalureans-caught-unaware-as-rain-cripples-city/article7214219.ece/
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/477945/heavy-rain-lashes-bengaluru-cripples.html
Heavy rain lashed Bengaluru on Saturday, crippling normal life, causing huge traffic snarls across the city as roads were flooded and inundating low-laying areas.
Starting intermittently around 1.30 p.m., the rain picked up pace, turned into a downpour by 2 p.m. and lasted for over two hours in and around the city.
"The city is experiencing moderate to heavy rains due to east-west shear zone and upper air cyclonic circulation over the Kerala coast and Lakshadweep islands," a weather official told IANS.
About 60 mm of rain was recorded till 5.30 p.m. in the city, 19mm on outskirts and 17.4mm in the airport area.
"These (rains) are pre-monsoon showers, occurring over the last two-three weeks across the state, reducing day and night temperatures during mid-summer and bringing relief to the people from scorching heat," the official said.
Though the met department had forecast generally cloudy sky, with the possibility of rain or thunderstorm for Saturday, the 10 million residents of the city were caught unawares by the heavy rain, which disrupted weekend trips and affected water and power supply.
"Weather outlook for the city on Sunday is cloudy sky and rain or thunderstorm to occur from late afternoon or evening. Though rain subsided on Saturday evening, the sky remained overcast and drizzling continued till late into night," the official added.
The downpour also forced Delhi Daredevils to cancel its practice session at the nets in the Chinnaswamy stadium here ahead of the last league tie of the IPL-8 with the hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore on Sunday evening.
Maximum temperature dipped to 30 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees departure from normal (33 degrees Celsius) and minimum to 22.5 degrees Celsius, two degree departure from normal.
The superceded civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, was also caught unawares by the downpour, as evident from hundreds of distress calls to its control rooms from across the city, complaining of uprooted trees and electric poles falling and telephone lines snapping.
