Bengaluru: A day after heavy rains, the city on Friday resembled the Kashmir Valley that was hit by flash floods recently. The city woke up to a trail of destruction, while the victims, whose houses were flooded, spent the day pumping out water, trying to safeguard whatever was left of their belongings.
Though no casualties were reported, the city incurred a loss of nearly Rs 60 crore, with 1,500 houses affected in Vinayak Nagar and Anepalya alone.
Complaints of uprooted trees, flooding of homes, fallen electric poles and caved in roads persisted on Friday morning, though the BBMP maintained that most of the problems were addressed. BBMP Commissioner N. Lakshminarayn, said, “There’s absolutely no problem now. We’ve ensured that all the uprooted trees are cleared.” But in reality, trees and branches remained on roads in Padmanabhanagar, Jayanagar and Basavanagudi.
Like every year, rain water entered Gali Anjaneya Swamy Temple on Mysore Road. District-in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy, who visited the spot, said, “The height of the bridge needs to be elevated to block storm water from entering the temple and homes in the nearby areas. Similar measures will be adopted in Nayandahalli too, where water logging was reported.” On de-silting of storm water drains and clearing encroachments, Mr Reddy claimed that the BBMP was acting against violations.
It was not just homes that paid a price following the heavy rains. Patients held on to their dear lives in Victoria Hospital as rain water entered two wards in the C Block of the hospital.
Sources said that patients and their relatives climbed on top of their beds and stayed up throughout Thursday night. On Friday, a few lifts stopped functioning as the rain water had damaged them. Many patients were wheeled out to other wings of the hospital through the stairs.
“A few lifts were jammed because of the heavy rain. Water was pumped out later. We want a permanent solution to this problem because every time it rains heavily, the lifts get jammed,” said Dr Durganna T., medical superintendent of the hospital.
Though it may take days before the loss can be fully ascertained and the routine lives of citizens can be restored, the BBMP claims all is well. But is it ready for another 13 cm rainfall?
