Heavy downpour sinks Bengaluru; oppn tears into govt on city infra

Bengaluru: Unusually heavy overnight rains pounding Bengaluru brought the country’s IT capital to its knees on Monday, with the monsoon-time scenes of inundation, people wading through water and evacuation by inflatables playing out on the streets of this cosmopolitan city.

A 35 year-old woman died after a rain-soaked wall collapsed on her, while uprooted trees added to the woes of the people and the administration.

Opposition BJP mounted an offensive against the ruling Congress, alleging that the crores of rupees spent over the last two years on the city’s infrastructure have yielded no results.

It attacked Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru in-charge D K Shivakumar for the state of affairs, even as the latter admitted Bengaluru’s problems were not new but that the government was now working for a long-term fix.

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Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the downpour was “unexpected,” and that he has instructed officials to take up remodeling and de-silting clogged stormwater drains (SWD).

With an average rainfall of 10.5 cm last night, Bengaluru found itself deploying dinghies with essential supplies to sending tractor trailers to the rescue of those stranded in knee-deep water.

This time too it was no exception for Sri Sai Layout, infamous for flooding the moment it rains. The low-lying area again flooded up to chest level, forcing people, including senior citizens, to wade through it, before the tractor trolleys came to their rescue.

The local MLA, Byrathi Basavaraj climbed on top of an earth mover and inspected the layout developed by the Bangalore Development Authority.

A state Natural Disaster Response Force officer said no one had ever expected such a heavy rain in Bengaluru. Weather watchers said such heavy downpour in May is not common.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, Bengaluru city received 105.5 mm of rainfall during the 24 hour period ending 8.30 am on May 19. The last time it rained this heavy here during this month was on May 18, 2022. Incidentally, the all-time record for May stands at 153.9 mm, which was set on May 6, 1909.

Namma Karnataka Weather, an ‘X’ handle with 18,000 followers, said the downpour on Sunday night was the heaviest for the year.

In Sai Layout that has about 300 houses, whenever it rains, it faces problems but this time the enormity was high, an official said.

Ground floor of the houses here were half-submerged and people are unable to come out. According to the officer, about 150 people were evacuated from this layout.

The SDRF personnel also faced the shortage of boats to rescue the rain affected people.

At Silk Board Junction, a traffic nightmare for Bengaluru even on good days, things got a bit out of hand when knee-deep water stagnation forced vehicles to be pulled over, slowing the traffic to almost a standstill.

Not wanting to wade through the water, commuters could be spotted jumping over the windows of a BMTC bus.

Shashidhar P G, a passenger who was forced to jump out of the windows, said, “the driver said the bus couldn’t move further, but the police insisted we continue. After reaching this spot, the bus stopped because water entered the engine.”

Fellow passenger, Nandini, who was returning from a nearby hospital after treatment said: “We really had to struggle to get home safe. If authorities take action faster, it will be good.”

“This is a government failure. They need to take precautions,” insisted Ubhay Adhikari, a local resident near Silk Board Junction.

People who had to reach office, come rain or shine, from low lying areas, hitched a hike in the dinghies deployed by the BBMP, to navigate waterlogged roads.

Uprooted trees served as yet another challenge to BBMP, especially in the Cubbon Park area where several fallen trees had to be towed away from roads with the help of JCBs.

Trees fell and damaged vehicles in Jayanagar, too.

Manyata Tech Park, which is home to many multinational companies, resembled a lake. With over two feet of water blocking the entrances, commuting to offices became an adventure for many.

The opposition BJP trained its guns the Congress government, and Shivakumar over the problems faced by people.

Former deputy CM and Malleswaram MLA, CN Ashwath Narayan criticised Shivakumar, saying, “Crores spent. Zero results.”

“Last night’s rains didn’t expose Bengaluru’s infrastructure — they exposed @DKShivakumar’s track record of the last two years of doing nothing,” he said on ‘X.’

State BJP General Secretary and MLA of Karkala, Sunil Kumar Karkala challenged the government to release a white paper on how much has actually been spent on Bengaluru’s infrastructure in the last two years. “Visit Silk Board once — you’ll see your real contribution,” he said.

Shivakumar said he was deeply concerned by the havoc caused by relentless rains in Bengaluru.

“I’ve been in continuous touch with the concerned officers, and I’m closely monitoring the situation. As always, I remain committed to Bengaluru – working round the clock to address challenges and ensure relief. I will be visiting the BBMP War Room and flood-affected areas personally to take stock on the ground.”

The issues Bengaluru was facing was not new as successive governments and administrations ignored the problems of the city.

“To my fellow Bengalureans–I am one among you. I understand your concerns, I share your frustration, and I assure you of my commitment to resolving them. I stand with you,” Shivakumar wrote on ‘X’.

CM to visit on Wednesday

Meanwhile, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah will visit the rain-affected locations on Wednesday along with his deputy D K Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, and other ministers.

“I will go for city rounds the day after tomorrow. If I go today, it will cause traffic issues, and after sunset, I won’t be able to assess the situation properly or speak to affected residents,” Siddaramaiah said.

He stated that he had instructed officials to take up remodelling and de-silting of clogged stormwater drains (SWDs).

According to Siddaramaiah, Bengaluru has a total of 859.90 km of SWDs.

“So far, we have built retaining walls for 491 km of drains. Construction is underway for 195 km. We’ve taken a loan from the World Bank to remodel 173 km of SWDs. The work is in progress,” he said.

The CM also said that 210 low-lying areas have been identified and categorised as sensitive or hyper-sensitive.

Work in 166 of these areas has been completed, while it is ongoing in 44 others, he said.

“Once these 44 sensitive areas are addressed, most problems will be resolved. Work is currently in progress in 24 of them,” he explained.

Siddaramaiah also emphasised that action against encroachments would be taken without bias, regardless of the influence of the encroachers.

Responding to criticism on social media, he said, “Social media is totally biased.”

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