Heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds and hailstorms, lashed the city on Tuesday evening. At least 10 trees were uprooted and many of them had fallen on electric poles and cables, disrupting power supply in respective areas. The BBMP control room received 12 complaints for removing the uprooted trees. Traffic was thrown out of gear because of heavy rain that lasted for about an hour from 4.45 pm to 5.45 pm.
“We’ve received complaints from Indiranagar 2nd Stage, 10th main road, 3rd cross. We have sent our vehicle to clear the road. Apart from this, a tree has fallen near HDFC Bank branch near Richmond Town and at Indiranagar RTO in the BDA complex,” a BBMP official said. Trees were also uprooted near Lavanya theatre in Ulsoor, Yediyur Lake, St. John's Road, Nagasandra circle, Jayanagar 8th block, Guttanhalli, JP Nagar near Oxford school, Bull Temple Road and Kaveri Bhavan in Gandhi Nagar.
Traffic was thrown out of gear in the Central Business District. Several two-wheelers and four-wheelers were stuck in floods. M A Saleem, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said some junctions, including Mayo Hall on M.G. Road, saw heavy traffic congestion. “But traffic returned to normal soon after the rains,” he said.
May’s quota of rain over
The meteorological department officials said Monday rains covered the entire month’s normal rainfall for the month for the city. “We are expecting similar showers on Tuesday with heavy wind and thunder activity. On Monday, the wind speed went as high as 47 kmph at 4.37 pm which resulted in falling of weak trees in the city. Many parts of city recorded hailstorms,” said B. Puttanna, Director, IMD Bengaluru. Till 8.30 pm, the city recorded 36.5 mm rainfall and the HAL Airport reported 30.9 mm rainfall.
City plunges into darkness
Several parts of the city had to deal with power cuts, lasting up to five hours. Areas in and around the Bull Temple road, Chamarajpet, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Jayanagar, Kalyan Nagar, HRBR Layout, JP Nagar and Kengeri were some of the worst hit. The fault lay in the 66,000 voltage line that tripped. “We’ve sent in our men and the restoration work is in progress,” said Angadi, Chief Engineer, Bescom. “Ninety percent of the work has already been done and the rest will be completed through the night,” he added. Hennur, Sultanpalya, Nagawara, K. Narayanapura and parts of Adugodi too had no electricity, although these power cuts were shorter, caused by fallen branches, uprooted electric poles and tripped lines.
One dies in Monday’s rain
The continuous rain in the city claimed the life of a 26-year-old construction worker who died after a compound wall collapsed while he was sleeping in a shed in Akshayanagara near Hulimavu on Monday evening. The deceased, Nathu, was from Orissa. He was working as a construction worker in an apartment complex and was living in a shed next to St. Anne’s school compound.
Central College flooded
Rains created havoc at the Central College campus. Students alleged that water entered the classrooms and destroyed answer scripts rainwater.