BANGALORE:
Being stranded on the road early in the morning is guaranteed to leave you in a
bad mood for the rest of the day. More so if it happens when you're on the way
to the airport.
That's when it becomes truly
painful. This was the norm on Wednesday morning on Bellary Road. A fallout of
the 66.2 mm torrential rain on Tuesday night which dumped misery all over the
city. The underpass work near CBI Junction was waterlogged and left commuters
stranded for hours.
Waterlogging caused soil erosion near the
junction and the place was in a mess. The police stopped vehicle movement for a
while and traffic was piled up till the Mehkri Circle for about 90 minutes.
Commuters heading to the airport waited helplessly for the vehicles to move.
The rain fury also damaged the Vidyapeetha mutt wall which collapsed
and damaged more than five new vehicles parked there. The vehicles were
completely crushed due to the impact. Several trees also crashed near MG Road,
Koramangala , RT Nagar and Basavanagudi and were cleared away by BBMP personnel
.
Commuters had to brave roads which had virtually become ponds and
water blocked entire stretches of roads in low-lying areas. Late-night
travellers who were caught in the rain had to gingerly navigate through
waterlogged roads to reach home. Several areas were inundated due to the intense
rain.
The situation in many parts of the city around 11.30 pm told
the sorry state of roads with many cars stranded as water seeped into their
engines. The Urvashi theatre road was waterlogged till the pavement level and
four-wheelers too found it excruciating to drive through the flooded waters .
"There was no choice. Either we had to stop the car or give full throttle and
make way. A second's indecision could result in water entering the engine and
the vehicle getting stranded. Since we are acquainted with the road, we can
drive, but still it's very dangerous,'' said a few cab drivers who were ferrying
employees working on late-night shifts.
The Sirsi Circle flyover too
was flooded at the centre, forcing vehicles to stop midway. Worse, the approach
to the up and down ramps was also waterlogged, making it difficult for the
vehicles to enter and exit the flyover. In Shivajinagar, Sahakaranagar JJ Nagar
and several other areas, water entered homes and forced residents to stay awake
the whole night to clear the mess.
A resident of Sahakaranagar,
Karkeda said that although the problem of waterlogging was there for some time
now, no action has been taken . Due to the excess water flowing in the shoulder
drains, water enters the houses. In Shivajinagar, several houses and eateries
were inundated.
Several areas like Shanthinagar, Hosur Road, Old
Madras Road, Bannerghatta Road, Palmgrove Road near The Forum mall, Lavelle Road
Junction , Koramangala 4th Block, Madiwala , HSR Layout, Jayanagar 3rd Block
near Madhavan Park were completely waterlogged.
Power
failure:
The rain also caused power outage in several areas
like Hanumanthnagar, Vidyapeetha, Ejipura, Kundalahalli, JP Nagar, New
Gurappanapalya and Frazer Town. Some areas in Hebbal, Chamarajpet and
Neelasandra had power cuts on Tuesday night.
Rain
fury continues:
Rain fury continued on Wednesday night,
throwing life out of gear again. Several roads were waterlogged and low-lying
areas were inundated. Trees crashed in Vijayanagar, Basaveshwaranagar and
Banashankari 2nd Stage. Many areas witnessed power outages late in the night.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup .com