Bangalore, Sep 26: Heavy showers coupled with a thunderstorm and lightning lashed the city on Thursday evening, uprooting several trees and triggering floods across the city.
A light drizzle which started around 6 p.m. brought the city to its knees within a couple of hours and turned out to be the heaviest rainfall Bangalore received in a single day in September in 26 years.
The city received 130 mm of rain (recorded until 11.30 pm). The all-time record for the heaviest rainfall in September is 177 mm recorded on 12 September 1988.
In just over an hour ” between 7.20 p.m., when the rain began, and 8.30 p.m. ” the city received a whopping 89.6 mm. The heavy spell was owing to an œupper air cyclonic circulation that extended from Lakshadweep islands up to southern Karnataka, said met director B. Puttanna. The last time the figures came even close to this in the past decade was in September 2010 when the city recorded 114 mm in 24 hours.
September is traditionally the city's wettest month, recording 211 mm on an average. Heavy thundershowers are common during these final weeks of the southwest monsoon, said Mr. Puttanna said.
The met centre has forecast three more days of œmoderate to heavy rainfall in southern Karnataka, including Bangalore.
Several other parts of south-interior Karnataka received heavy rain between Wednesday and Thursday. Kolar received 120 mm and Hassan 90 mm.
Low-lying areas flooded
For residents of Anepalya, who were recovering from a harrowing experience after their houses were flooded by rain two days ago, Thursday evening was a nightmare.
The residents, who were bringing their homes back in order, had to deal with inundated homes once again. While utensils and books were seen floating, most of them lost electronic goods.
Afshan Shakeej, a resident of 5th cross in Anepalya, said her house was filled with knee-deep water. Her neighbours were unfortunate as the water-level was higher and they were forced to rush to the first floor.
œOn Tuesday, the civic body authorities assured us that the drain which was under repair would be fixed. But, they have only done superficial changes, she said.
Ms. Shakeej said the panic-stricken women and children ran out of their homes and waited for over an hour for the BBMP officials. œThere is no power in our house, our belongings are floating and we do not know what to do. We have been calling the helpline repeatedly. While officials claim that the BBMP authorities were on the spot, there is nobody here, she said.
Besides Anepalya, several low-lying areas in Byatarayanapura, Banashankari, K.S. Layout, Wilson Garden, J.P. Nagar, Kumaraswamy Layout, Koramangala, Adugodi, Ashok Nagar, Old Airport Road, K.R. Puram, Mahadevapura, Hebbal, Peenya, Malleswaram, Majestic and Chamarajpet were flooded.
Padmaja Chalasani, a Whitefield resident, complained that the compound of their building had collapsed after the rain. Many families living in the building vacated and brought their cars out, she said. In the vegetable market behind K.R. Market, eight to 10 trucks submerged and the entire street was blocked.
The stormwater entering the BCM Women's Hostel at Papareddypalya in Nagarabhavi created panic among 100 students, who were seen scurrying for cover with their belongings. The rooms, hall and kitchen remained flooded for several hours as storm water entered the building that did not have a compound wall. Complaints made to authorities in the past have fallen on deaf ears, said a student union leader.
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