Heavy rains and overflowing storm drains cause flooding in areas of southern Bengaluru

Heavy rain flooded houses and washed away vehicles in southern Bengaluru on Friday night. The ravages caused by the rains were severe in areas such as Hosakerehalli, Gurudatta Layout, Dattatreya Nagar and Pramod Layout in Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

Along with heavy rains, the stormwater drain broke around 4 p.m. in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, sending water to homes, the Times of India reported.

According to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Center (KSNDMC), Kengeri and Rajarajeshwari Nagar received more than 100mm of rain, while at least 13 other locations in the city received more than 50mm of rain. These localities were mainly concentrated in the southern part of Bengaluru, in areas such as Basavanagudi, Vidyapeetha and VV Puram.

“There was heavy rain at night and this led to the streets overflowing with water. We have seen rains like this in our area, but not as much in October. The storm drains overflowed shortly after the rains started.” said Raj, a Konanakunte resident.

Pourakarmikas cleans up after heavy rains in Hosakerehalli of Bengaluru

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) control rooms reported being inundated with calls for help from citizens. BBMP Commissioner Manjunath Prasad confirmed that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Civil Defense officials were available to carry out rescue operations. He reportedly said there were no casualties and that water levels dropped overnight on Friday, The Hindu reported.

Traders in central Bengaluru areas such as Chikpet, Sultanpet, Mamulpet and Old Tharagupet were also affected and had to navigate knee-deep waters.

Severe waterlogging was reported in the fourth Koramangala block, the LIC colony, the ITI design, the Banashankari second stage, and Kathriguppe.

KSNDMC meteorologist Sunil Gavaskar told TNM that more rain is forecast in Bengaluru over the weekend, especially at night.