Torrential rains pound Bengaluru, disrupting traffic and flooding roads
Heavy rainfall pummeled Bengaluru on Monday as the northeast monsoon strengthened in South Interior Karnataka (SIK), resulting in widespread waterlogging and hampering rush-hour traffic throughout the city. After a brief respite on Monday evening, the city again witnessed showers on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted the state would experience heavy rainfall activity up to Thursday and has issued a yellow warning for SIK until Wednesday and coastal Karnataka until Tuesday.
Traffic snarls reported across city
The deluge with knee-deep water caused traffic congestion in numerous Bengaluru areas, including Ballari Road from Mehkri Circle to Hebbal, Sankey Road, Guttahalli Main Road, JC Nagar Main Road, and sections of CV Raman Road. Inbound traffic from northern Bengaluru experienced delays near Manipal Hospital, Hebbal, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, North) Sachin Ghorpade. Traffic disruptions also occurred on Sarjapur Road, Silk Board Junction, Hosur Road toward Electronics City, Outer Ring Road near Kasturi Nagar, and Old Madras Road.
Scenes on Tuesday morning
Waterlogging and flooding affect multiple areas
The heavy rains led to flooding on various roads and underpasses, causing traffic to move at a snail's pace. Waterlogged areas included Banaswadi Main Road, Queen's Circle, Kalyan Nagar 80 Feet Road (close to the Kalyan Nagar underpass), Anil Kumble Circle, Dinnur Main Road, CQAL Cross on Jayamahal Main Road, Vidyashilp flyover and underpass service road, Lalbagh Main Gate, and Veeranapalya down ramp. Additionally, the Srirampur and Lingarajapuram underpasses were inundated with knee-high water.
Deputy CM visits BBMP war room, reviews relief work
Karnataka's Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar made a surprise visit to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) head office's war room at Hudson Circle around Monday midnight. He assessed disaster response and relief efforts in the city following the torrential rains. Meanwhile, people in CK Garden and Banaswadi Railway Station Road in St. Thomas Town reportedly grappled with water from stormwater drains flooding their homes, despite lodging complaints with the BBMP Stormwater Drain Department over de-silted drains on October 9.
Current spell expected to compensate Bengaluru's rain deficit
A Prasad, the director of the IMD's center in Bengaluru, linked the intense downpour to an upper air cyclonic circulation above the southeast Arabian Sea that evolved into a trough (a low atmospheric pressure area). Bengaluru likely received 7cm of rainfall in the latest spell, which will help decrease its current rain deficit during this rainy season that commenced on October 1. Bengaluru experiences monsoon twice a year, from June to September and then October to December.
