How 40-minute heavy rain brought Bengaluru IT hub to its knees

Sanika Athavale / TNN / Updated: Apr 6, 2023, 09:22 IST

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Heavy rain lasting for 30-40 minutes on Tuesday evening in eastern and southeastern parts of the city brought traffic to a standstill and left pedestrians stranded on waterlogged stretches for an hour later, reports Sanika Athavale.

How 40-minute heavy rain brought Bengaluru IT hub to its knees

Indian Meteorological Department officials say more thunderstorms are expected over the next 2 days

BENGALURU: Heavy rain lasting for 30-40 minutes on Tuesday evening in eastern and southeastern parts of the city brought traffic to a standstill and left pedestrians stranded on waterlogged stretches for an hour later.
What surprised citizens that the localities affected by the deluge of September 2022 - identified to have been caused by lake encroachments and unplanned construction - again took the brunt of rain fury on Tuesday evening.As per the data shared by Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre, 6cm rainfall was recorded in and around Mahadevapura (Whitefield) on Tuesday.

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We are not even into the monsoon and parts of Bengaluru have already begun bearing uneasy resemblances to the horrors unleashed by last year’s rains. The least that citizens can expect from a modern-day city is optimisation of existing resources so that they are not put to hardship when a crisis hits. Unfortunately, the recent wet spell has yet again raised doubts about the city’s preparedness to handle a deluge. One only hopes that by the time the full-blown monsoon is upon us, infrastructure will be in place to tide over the challenges.

Huge swathe saw ankle-deep water

A huge swathe of the city stretching from Bellandur to Hope Farm saw ankle-deep waterlogging. With Brookefield, Kundalahalli, Nallurahalli in the centre, Marathahalli on the east and Whitefield on the west, the Mahadevapura assembly constituency was majorly impacted.
While the IMD station at HAL airport recorded 4. 3cm of rainfall on Tuesday evening, the one at Kempegowda International Airport received 4. 5cm of rainfall. The station in the heart of the city saw less than 0. 1mm of rain.

BMRCL: We are taking corrective measures
On the issue of rainwater creating problems at Nallurhalli and Pattandur Metro stations, the chief of public relations, Namma Metro, said: “The seepage may have happened at the expansion joints along the viaduct. It happened because rainwater splashed and made its way inside. Corrective measures are being taken. However, there was no leakage, as claimed by some people, and there is no threat to passenger safety. ”
IMD predicts more rain over next two days
Officials at Indian Meteorological Department told TOI more thunderstorms are expected over the next two days. “The presence of a lot of waterbodies creates conditions that are ideal for thunderstorms. The weather is hot now and hence prone to showers. Presence of sufficient moisture in air, heating of the moist air in the atmosphere and a triggering mechanism that lifts the air constitute the three factors that are responsible for causing thunderstorms,” an IMD official explained.

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