As rain woes continue, North Bengaluru bears the brunt

Bengaluru continues to be affected by incessant rains for the past three days.

As many areas were flooded, five teams of the National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response Force were deployed to evacuate marooned people with the help of coracles in the city on Tuesday.

North Bengaluru bore the brunt as several areas were flooded in and around Yelahanka.

Kendriya Vihar in Yelahanka resembled a river with waist-deep water. The rescue workers brought out people in a coracle.

Due to the waterlogging, public life was thrown out of gear in Northern Bengaluru. People preferred staying indoors, while many passengers missed their flights, trains and buses. Children were not able to go to schools in waterlogged areas.

Many houses in low-lying areas and near lakes were flooded. Household items, vehicles and electronic goods were damaged.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, on Tuesday said, “You might have noticed in the media what is happening in Dubai and Delhi. There is pollution in Delhi and rains in Dubai, which is a drought prone region. There is a similar situation in many parts of the country. We are managing.” “We cannot stop nature but we are there. I am also gathering information from the entire team. My visit is not important because if I go, I will get media attention but the purpose is not to gain publicity but to give relief to the rain affected people,” he added.

According to him, the problem was more in the south, west and Mahadevapura zones.

“The embankment of a lake gave way in Dasarahalli. Areas under Mahadevapura zone five layouts –Basava Samithi Layout, Tata Nagar, Bhadrappa Layout, Vayunandana Layout, Anjaneya Layout, Chitrakoot Apartment, Ramanashree California, Surabhi Layout, Someshwara Layout, Kanaka Nagar were inundated,” the DCM explained.

He said five NDRF and SDRF teams have been pressed into relief work. Twenty pumps have been installed to remove water from the apartments and low-lying areas.

The India Meteorology Department has said that light to moderate thundershowers accompanied by lightning are likely to occur at isolated places over Chikkaballapur, Chikkamagalur, Kolar, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural districts.

Also, isolated heavy rain and thundershowers are likely to occur over Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Dharwad, Gadag, Belagavi, Haveri, Davangere, Ballari, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara and Chamarajanagar districts.