Bengaluru: Residents of J.P Nagar, Puttenahalli, HSR Layout and surrounding areas woke up to a nightmare early on Friday morning as heavy rain pounded the city throughout the night. The midnight showers wreaked havoc, flooding homes, bringing down fully-grown trees and submerging over 40 cars in JP Nagar Phase 1.
The residents of Nagarjuna Enclave said that the heavy rain flooded the basement of their apartment complex and submerged around 40 cars around 12.30 am. Angry residents slammed BBMP officials for not attending to the emergency. Two fire tenders were pressed into service to pump out water from basement, but the roads near the apartment remained waterlogged even on Friday evening.
It was a nightmare for slumdwellers of Bommanahalli, who had to stay up throughout the night for the rain to stop and water to recede.
Rain water entered three houses and the residents had to wait for BBMP officials to pump out the water.
Water-logging and flooding were reported in South and Bommanahalli zones after a storm water drain next to Puttenahalli underpass overflowed.
Houses in low-lying areas of J.P. Nagar, Sarakki Layout, Chikkalsandra, RBI Layout, Basappa Reddy Garden, Kanakanagar, Kodichikkanahalli and Anugraha Layout were also flooded. Heavy rains and gusty winds uprooted seven trees in Banashankari.
Trees also fell in J.P Nagar 24th Main, Katriguppe, BEML Layout and Bilekahalli. As many uprooted trees continued to remain on roads, traffic was affected in several parts of the city on Friday morning.
The BBMP control room was flooded with complaints. Motorists had a tough time passing through Kino Theatre Junction, Anand Rao Circle, Maharani College underpass, ITC Windsor Manor bridge and Salem Bridge near Doddanekkundi.
3 teams to tackle rain-related emergencies
Mayor Manjunath Reddy ordered Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials to remove all the encroachments in the lake area in Bommanahalli zone and set up three teams to tackle rain-related emergencies. During a visit to rain-affected areas in Bommanahalli zone on Friday, he noticed that drains were overflowing in HSR Layout, Anugraha Layout and Puttenahalli. He took officials to task when he noticed that traffic movement was affected due to the overflowing drains. He suspended Chandrashekar Naik, an observer, for not attending to rain emergencies on Thursday midnight.
Froth in Amanikere
On Friday morning, traffic moved slowly near Yemlur as froth from the Amanikere Lake flowed onto the road. Though froth was not seen at the lake, which is highly contaminated, during summer, Friday’s heavy rain triggered heavy foam in the water body.
Traffic affected in Doddanekkundi
Long lines of vehicles were seen throughout the day on Friday at the Doddanekkundi Underpass on the Outer Ring Road. The residents complained that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has not desilted the drains on the Outer Ring Road leading to waterlogging on Friday morning.
