Bengaluru weather: Rain havoc leads to waterlogging and traffic chaos, commuters struggle to navigate inundated roads

With IMD predicting rainfall through the day, a few residential layout fear imminent flooding 

Traffic came to a standstill or moved at snail’s pace across major roads in Bengaluru as rains lashed the city nonstop since wee hours of the morning on Tuesday (October 15, 2024), leading to waterlogging.

Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) issued advisories for several areas that witnessed traffic snarls, including Mahadevapura, Marathahalli, Seshadripuram, Sanjay Nagar, Hunasemaranahalli, Hebbal flyover and Outer Ring Road (ORR) and Bannerghatta Road as the roads got inundated due to rain.

According to the traffic police, the road near Sakra hospital and the railway underbridge at Panathur was inundated, resulting in slow movement of traffic. A stretch at Outer Ring Road (ORR) was also waterlogged. 

Slow movement of traffic was also reported from Mysuru-Bengaluru expressway area due to poor visibility.  For now, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has cleared water logging at underneath the Hebbal flyover. 

Citizens struggle to commute

Commuters travelling to office, schools and colleges got stuck in traffic in places like Kengeri, Mysuru Road, Sarakki, J.P. Nagar, Goraguntepalya and Hebbal for 30-40 minutes. The same was also the case along the IT corridor in Whitefield, Bellandur, Silk Board and multiple points on Outer Ring Road. This led to many demanding that companies should give employees a work from home option if they cannot make it to office in the rain.

Many two-wheeler owners have opted to work from home as they are unable to ride in the rain. Naveen P.G., an IT worker said as he had to mandatorily work from office, he had booked a cab. However, it took two hours to reach his workplace at Whitefield from Banashankari, he said.

“We got stuck for 40 minutes in Kengeri. Our college starts at 9 a.m., but we reached only at around 9.30 today because of the rain. Many other students faced the same plight,” said a college student.

Getting cabs and auto rickshaw rides in rain also became a difficult task. “I had to book cab rides on 3-4 apps before I got one. The prices were exorbitant, double the usual fares,” said Ravi Kumar, who was travelling from Yelahanka to South Bengaluru.

Pointing to the slush-filled road in front of her apartment complex in Panathur following rains, Shubhalakshmi Nayak, a citizen, said, “How we will travel? No cab ready to pick us up. People are walking to office in this mud road. This has been happening for the past one month at Panathur. No one understands our suffering.”

Residential layouts fear flooding

According to the IMD, rainfall will continue throughout the day. However, apart from a few inundated roads, no flooding has been reported from any residential layout so far. 

Neelufur Ahmad, a resident of Sai Layout, told The Hindu that the residents fear a flooding of the layout. “The area received moderate rainfall on Monday night. The rain intensified on Tuesday. If the same intensity persists, then it will flood. The BBMP is also in touch with the residents.” 

A resident at Rainbow Drive Layout said as the lakes near the layout had not filled up, it may not flood this season. However, residents worry that if the intensity of the rain increases, water may enter the house . 

A senior BBMP official said the disaster management team and BBMP teams at every zone were on alert. The civic body is prepared to tackle any situation. 

Disruptions to India-NZ match

The rains could also disrupt proceedings in the first India-New Zealand Test, which commences at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium on October 16, 2024.

Heavy showers forced both teams to call off their training sessions on Tuesday (October 15, 2024). Play is likely to be interrupted in the first two days of the Test, at a minimum.

New Zealand will be wary regardless, as India recently showed that even a heavily truncated encounter cannot stop its march to victory. Bangladesh learnt the hard way, going down in under two days in the second Test at Kanpur earlier this month.

Published - October 15, 2024 11:44 am IST