The rains that lashed the city on Monday night, seemed to be the highest in recent times and in at least over a decade.
The city was confronted with unexpected torrential rains late on Monday night, which continued into the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The rains caused much havoc on the streets, including heavy inundation and tree falls.
The situation in the city on the I-Day morning reminded many of the flash floods the city saw in July 2016. Several areas including Koramangala, HSR Layout, Shantinagar, Wilson Garden, K R Puram, Anugraha Layout, Ulsoor, Vivek Nagar, Murugesh Palya on Old Airport Road and Gurappana Palya on Bannerghatta Road, have been inundated with almost knee-level water on the streets leaving residents stranded in their homes.
Koramangala, worst-hit
Koramangala seems to be one of the worst hit areas. Several tree falls have also been reported from these areas. Even as BBMP officials have been pressed into action, residents have been complaining of lack of adequate response from civic officials.
Mr. Sethumadhava, a resident of Anugraha Layout near Kodichikkanahalli, said that the entire area was flooded and there was water of over 5 feet on the streets, leaving the residents trapped. “BBMP officials took over four hours to reach the spot after our calls. This for a known flood prone area which was flooded even during the July 2016 floods,” he said.
The layout was one of the worst hit during the last year’s floods. “Water has flooded ground floors of most houses in the area. We have been working to flush out water from almost 1am to no effect till now,” he said.
I-Day spoilsport
Heavy rains have played spoil sport even at the Independence Day parade at Parade Grounds leading to low turnout. BBMP had to lay a layer of dry m-sand at Manekshaw Parade Grounds before the I-Day function as the grounds had turned into a mess due to rains.
Early morning services like milk and newspapers were hit in most areas across the city due to heavy rains. City saw huge traffic snarls on major arterial roads like Double Road, Shantinagar and Hosur Road where there is water inundation. This led to a snowball effect leading to slow moving traffic across the core areas.
While rains have lashed the entire city, maximum damage due to rains seems to have occurred in East and South East Bengaluru, the same areas that were badly affected in the July 2016 floods. However, civic officials said that the situation in the city on Tuesday couldn’t be compared to July 2016, as no lakes have breached leading to floods. “There has been very heavy rainfall in one night leading to inundation taking time for the water to flow out of the streets,” a senior civic official said.
Record rains in a decade
The rains that lashed the city on Monday night, seemed to be the highest in recent times and in at least over a decade. As per Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru, the HAL station recorded a heavy rainfall of 14.4 cm and the City station 12.9 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
“The city’s record is 16.6 cm in 1890. The next was in 2009 when the city received over 7.7 cm. Tuesday’s rains have surpassed the 2009 record,” said S.M. Metri, Director, Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru.
The rains were also unexpected. Neither IMD nor Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) had predicted such rains on Monday. In fact KSNDMC had predicted very light rainfall for the city.
Mr. Metri said that the rains were due to a cyclonic trough formation over Tamil Nadu in Bay of Bengal that moved swiftly North to South Interior Karnataka on Tuesday night.
Srinivas Reddy, Director, KSNDMC, said that even at 10:30 pm on Tuesday night the trough was still far away from the state and it moved very swiftly North at around midnight bringing heavy rains to South Interior Karnataka — Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramangar, Mandya, Mysuru and Chamarajnagar.
While IMD has only three rain gauges in the city, KSNDMC has over forty. KSNMDC said that the highest rainfall recorded in the city was much higher than 14 cms. Bilekahalli in HSR Layout, South East part of the city recorded a whopping 184 mm rainfall. However, North Bengaluru received scant rains. For instance, Yelahanka received only 8mm rainfall during the same duration.
The city was confronted with unexpected torrential rains late on Monday night, which continued into the wee hours of Tuesday morning. The rains caused much havoc on the streets, including heavy inundation and tree falls.
The situation in the city on the I-Day morning reminded many of the flash floods the city saw in July 2016. Several areas including Koramangala, HSR Layout, Shantinagar, Wilson Garden, K R Puram, Anugraha Layout, Ulsoor, Vivek Nagar, Murugesh Palya on Old Airport Road and Gurappana Palya on Bannerghatta Road, have been inundated with almost knee-level water on the streets leaving residents stranded in their homes.
Koramangala, worst-hit
Koramangala seems to be one of the worst hit areas. Several tree falls have also been reported from these areas. Even as BBMP officials have been pressed into action, residents have been complaining of lack of adequate response from civic officials.
Mr. Sethumadhava, a resident of Anugraha Layout near Kodichikkanahalli, said that the entire area was flooded and there was water of over 5 feet on the streets, leaving the residents trapped. “BBMP officials took over four hours to reach the spot after our calls. This for a known flood prone area which was flooded even during the July 2016 floods,” he said.
The layout was one of the worst hit during the last year’s floods. “Water has flooded ground floors of most houses in the area. We have been working to flush out water from almost 1am to no effect till now,” he said.
I-Day spoilsport
Heavy rains have played spoil sport even at the Independence Day parade at Parade Grounds leading to low turnout. BBMP had to lay a layer of dry m-sand at Manekshaw Parade Grounds before the I-Day function as the grounds had turned into a mess due to rains.
Early morning services like milk and newspapers were hit in most areas across the city due to heavy rains. City saw huge traffic snarls on major arterial roads like Double Road, Shantinagar and Hosur Road where there is water inundation. This led to a snowball effect leading to slow moving traffic across the core areas.
While rains have lashed the entire city, maximum damage due to rains seems to have occurred in East and South East Bengaluru, the same areas that were badly affected in the July 2016 floods. However, civic officials said that the situation in the city on Tuesday couldn’t be compared to July 2016, as no lakes have breached leading to floods. “There has been very heavy rainfall in one night leading to inundation taking time for the water to flow out of the streets,” a senior civic official said.
Record rains in a decade
The rains that lashed the city on Monday night, seemed to be the highest in recent times and in at least over a decade. As per Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru, the HAL station recorded a heavy rainfall of 14.4 cm and the City station 12.9 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
“The city’s record is 16.6 cm in 1890. The next was in 2009 when the city received over 7.7 cm. Tuesday’s rains have surpassed the 2009 record,” said S.M. Metri, Director, Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru.
The rains were also unexpected. Neither IMD nor Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) had predicted such rains on Monday. In fact KSNDMC had predicted very light rainfall for the city.
Mr. Metri said that the rains were due to a cyclonic trough formation over Tamil Nadu in Bay of Bengal that moved swiftly North to South Interior Karnataka on Tuesday night.
Srinivas Reddy, Director, KSNDMC, said that even at 10:30 pm on Tuesday night the trough was still far away from the state and it moved very swiftly North at around midnight bringing heavy rains to South Interior Karnataka — Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramangar, Mandya, Mysuru and Chamarajnagar.
While IMD has only three rain gauges in the city, KSNDMC has over forty. KSNMDC said that the highest rainfall recorded in the city was much higher than 14 cms. Bilekahalli in HSR Layout, South East part of the city recorded a whopping 184 mm rainfall. However, North Bengaluru received scant rains. For instance, Yelahanka received only 8mm rainfall during the same duration.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bengaluru/2017/aug/15/forecast-of-more-rains-for-next-three-days-in-bengaluru-1643586.html
Forecast of more rains for next three days in Bengaluru
Last Updated: 15th August 2017 06:05 PM
BENGALURU: The situation is likely to worsen for residents of the city on Wednesday and Thursday as more rain and thunderstorm have been forecast for the next three days.
According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell, on an average, 20-30 mm of rainfall is forecast, which is likely to bring woes to inundated areas. Some isolated areas might receive more than 60 mm rainfall, the forecast said.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, SSM Gavaskar, a scientist at KSNDMC said that the average rainfall for Bengaluru Urban district in the month of August was about 140 mm. "However, some areas in the city received more rainfall than that in a single spell that lasted for about four hours," he said.
While initial forecasts had indicated good rainfall from August 16 night, a sudden development in the upper air cyclonic circulation in the Southern tip of Indian peninsula caused widespread showers. Many parts of the city started receiving heavy rainfall between 1 to 2 am, which lasted till early morning, he said.
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Rain wreaks havoc in south interior parts of state
DH News Service, Bengaluru, Aug 16 2017, 2:18 IST
In just four hours, Bengaluru city and most parts of south interior Karnataka were submerged in knee-deep water in the early hours of Tuesday.
This is simply because the district administration ignored the warning issued by the India Meteorological Department cautioning them of moderate to heavy rainfall in the city and south interior Karnataka.
The city received 13 cm (128.7 mm) rainfall in just four hours (from 3.35 am to 5.40 am and then from 5.45 am to 8.15 am), while the HAL airport recorded 14 cm (143.8 mm), this, according to the IMD officials, is the highest in 24 hours for the month of August. Most of the low-lying areas in Bengaluru were flooded.
Mandya received 110.1 mm, Shivamogga 109.4 mm, Tumakuru 72 mm, Mysuru 43.8 mm and Chamarajnagar recorded 37.4 mm during the same duration.
Rain havoc was reported at Madiwala, Bommanahalli, Koramanagala, BTM Layout, Silk Board junction, Indiranagar, JP Nagar, HSR Layout, Tavarekere, Sarjapura Road, Indiranagar, Eijipura, ST Bed, Manjunatha Nagar, HAL 2nd Stage, Wilson Garden, Dollars Colony and Anugraha layout.
Warning sent
Sunder M Methri, director in-charge, IMD Bengaluru, told DH that a warning stating: “Moderate to heavy rainfall likely to affect your district within next three hours” was sent to all DCs, including Bengaluru, at 2.20 pm, 5.41 pm, 8.30 pm, 12.10 am and 4.20 am. “Though the forecast was for moderate to heavy, city and south interior Karnataka received very heavy rainfall in just four hours,” he said.
‘BBMP was alerted’
G S Srinivasa Reddy, director, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), said that they have an automated system where once the rainfall reaches a threshold of 50 mm in one hour, an automated warning alert goes to the BBMP officials and other concerned heads. “On Monday night, when the city received 12.5 mm within 15 minutes, immediate warning alerts went out,” he said.
Reddy said that the KSNDMC does not get weather updates from IMD, they collect the data independently and take satellite readings from ISRO. Senior officials from both the departments echoed that it was a mere communication lapse.
More rain likely
The IMD has issued a warning stating that Bengaluru and parts of south interior Karnataka will continue to receive moderate to heavy rainfall.
“This rainfall is because of an upper air cyclonic circulation over south Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep area. A wind share zone has also formed 10 degree north latitude due to which south interior Karnataka is experiencing heavy rainfall. This will continue for the next two days,” Methri said
DH News Service
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'BBMP didn't act on flash flood alerts'
DH News Service, Bengaluru, Aug 16 2017, 3:10 IST
Monday night’s heavy rainfall has once again exposed the ill-preparedness of the civic authorities. But this time, the situation could have been handled better had the BBMP acted on flash flood alerts and evacuated people.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had intimated the Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner, V Shankar, and the BBMP about “very heavy rain” in the city. Had the BBMP been alert, people could have been informed even at night and they could have been prepared, an IMD official said.
Shankar said he did receive an e-mail from the IMD on Monday afternoon but the information didn’t give any time frame. “Flooding has happened in BBMP limits. The deputy commissioner has nothing to do with BBMP areas. It’s for the civic body to act,” he said. He, however, admitted that he hadn’t forwarded the alert to the BBMP.
Siddhartha, a resident of CV Raman Nagar, wondered what was the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) doing. “The KSNDMC sent warnings to the BBMP. Being a disaster management authority, it should have the required equipment and capability to sound an alert, take control of the situation and evacuate people from low-lying areas that are prone to flooding,” he said. “What is the point of a disaster management centre when it isn’t not ready to handle any disaster. Its job should not be limited to sending alerts. If it got to know that the BBMP is not acting, it should have taken charge.”
An IMD official, wishing anonymity, said even an hour’s time was enough to make public announcements and evacuate people. KSNDMC officials say they had informed the BBMP about the impending flash flood.
“The BBMP knows which areas are low-lying and prone to flooding. Things could have been handled better.”
Maruthi K, a resident of Manjunatha Nagar, said: “Had we been informed just an hour in advance, we could have moved to the first floor and saved our belongings. Because of the rain, we stayed awake the whole night, trying to save our belongings. This happens every year, we wonder when will the officials take responsibility?”
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A FLOODY INDEPENDENCE DAY
ooks like Bengaluru’s administrators have learnt nothing from last year’s fiasco
Residents of Bengaluru are paying a heavy price for negligence by BBMP and the state government who have not taken warnings made by the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) seriously. The KSNDMC had earlier predicted that the state, including Bengaluru, would receive good rainfall in August and September. Despite this prediction, neither the BBMP nor the government took steps to ensure that the city is not affected by floods.
The KSNDMC had, in August 2016, identified 174 low-lying areas which could turn into a water nightmare for residents. Learning a lesson from heavy rainfall that lashed the city during the same month, the chief minister had ordered demolishing encroachments of storm water drains.
The demolition drive had also begun and several encroachments were cleared. But the government gradually stopped the demolition drive after it came under pressure from influential politicians whose buildings were allegedly built on encroached land. However, BBMP had then claimed that the drive had to be stopped due to lack of surveyors. BBMP chief engineer (storm water drain) Siddegowda had recently said that encroachments have been cleared and obstacles to the smooth flow of water in the drains had been removed by building new ones. But those tall claims seem bunkum. Contrary to the BBMP’s statement, several localities such as HSR layout, Koramangala, ST bed layout, Talacauvery Nagar and Silk Board were affected by floods this year as well. Water has gushed into houses and apartments, and residents stand agonised again.
When Victoria was no queen
Victoria Layout in the heart of CBD was perhaps one of the first few areas to get marooned during the early hours of Tuesday. In less than half-an-hour since the beginning of incessant rains, sewage from clogged drains began gushing into apartment complexes and individual houses. As a result, several residents had to wake up all through the night trying in vain to connect with BBMP officials. Ranjan Bhat, a resident of the locality, satirically said, “Rainwater mixed with sewage taught Victoria layout residents a lesson not to support the corrupt and incompetent! In my 44-years of stay in the locality, never had I seen raiwnater entering houses. But on Tuesday early morning, we were standing in about half-a-foot of water inside our houses.” He further rued that his wooden floors have been damaged permanently.
Minister George, mayor feel people’s wrath
Bengaluru City Development minister KJ George mayor G Padmavathi had to face the wrath of residents of ST bed layout during their city rounds on Tuesday after the city soaked in heavy rainfall on the intervening day of Monday and Tuesday. The residents took the minister to task for taking up repair of storm water drains during the rainy season. “We have not slept since night as water gushed into our houses continuously. This is how we celebrated Independence Day,” they said.Meanwhile, former CM BS Yeddyurappa said it was the duty of the state to ensure all support was given to residents to flush out water.
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A forecast that wasn't - rain of century also exposes weather agencies' faux pas
BENGALURU: The city was caught napping. The rain which inundated entire localities on Tuesday was the highest in over a decade, say Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials. Yet, it was not predicted.
"The city received 13 cm of rainfall on Tuesday, which surpassed the 2009 record of 7.7 cm," said SM Metri, director, meteorological centre, Bengaluru, adding that the city will continue to receive moderate to heavy rains and thunderstorms over the next two days. "Our HAL station recorded 14.4 cm. The city station recorded 12.9 cm and another one at the airport recorded only 3 cm of rainfall."
Neither the IMD nor the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) could predict the heavy and unrelenting downpour that lasted for more than three hours in some localities. In fact, the former predicted "moderate" rain while the latter predicted "light" rainfall for Monday
"No one expected this cloudburst," said KSNDMC director GS Srinivas Reddy . "Since our systems did not forecast alerts, the situation was taken lightly. Even the BBMP officials took delayed action in the morning. Perhaps they were busy with Independence Day preparations." He said that the centre had 100 rainfall sensors and 10 weather monitoring stations across the city and are "on guard"
On the other hand, Metri explained that the rainfall was due to a cyclonic circulation over Tamil Nadu that moved swiftly to south interior Karnataka on Monday night.
Interestingly, while the IMD pegged the rainfall at 13 cm, the KSNDMC released maps that pegged the highest recorded rainfall at 18.2 cm. This surpassed the city's 1890 record of 16.6 cm rains, making this the highest rainfall on a single day, for over a century. The IMD has three rain gauges in the city while the KSNDMC has 40.
Flood-alert device by KSNDMC stuck in a limbo In June this year, the KSNDMC announced that it was in talks with technology major IBM and MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology (MSRIT) to separately develop capabilities to strengthen the city's urban flood forecast system. While the former was supposed to develop a dynamic model to understand rainwater behaviour, analyse rain capacity and water runoff possibilities, MSRIT students were working on a mobile app that would warn citizens of flooding.
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