Schools shut, streets flooded as heavy rain halts life in Bengaluru | Top points

Schools will remain shut as heavy rainfall is likely to continue in Bengaluru for the next 24 hours. Here are the top points.

An aerial view of flooded Rainbow Drive Layout after heavy monsoon rains at Sarjapur, in Bengaluru (Photo: PTI)

Bengaluru has been flooded again after receiving heavy rain in the past three days. The situation is slated to remain the same as the weather office has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall till September 9 in the Silicon City and other parts of Karnataka.

The torrential rain submerged arterial roads, inundated posh apartment complexes and homes, snapped power lines, and jammed traffic. Many were left stranded on the road and in their homes. Boats and even tractors were deployed to rescue residents from submerged areas.

Localities like Rainbow Drive Layout, Sunny Brooks Layout, Bellandur, Eco Board, and some areas on Sarjapur Road were badly hit by water-logging.

According to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, some areas in the state capital have received 150 per cent more rain than normal between September 1 and 5.

Here are the top points.

1) A holiday has been announced for schools as well as high schools in parts of Bengaluru as heavy rain continues to lash the city. Many parts of Bengaluru still remain submerged.

Fire fighters while evacuating residents from flooded Rainbow Drive Layout locality after heavy monsoon rains at Sarjapur, in Bengaluru (PTI Photo)2) Many tech companies have asked employees to work from home as major tech parks in the suburbs remain inundated due to overflowing lakes and stormwater drains.

3) State Information Technology Minister Ashwat Narayan is set to hold a meeting with leaders of the IT sector in Vidhan Sabha at 5 pm today to discuss the flood in the IT corridor.

4) Bengaluru is the wettest it has been in 50 years. The torrential rain led to the filling up of 162 lakes filling up to full capacity.

Two overflowing lakes -- Bellandur and Varthur -- have inundated residential areas in the vicinity of the lake. Tractors and boats were deployed to get residents out of flooded societies.

5) Flight operations at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport, which were affected due to the heavy rainfall, have also been restored.

6) As heavy rain lashed the city, Chief Minister Bommai on Tuesday blamed the "maladministration" of the previous Congress government for the situation. They have given permission for construction activities "right-left-centre" in the lake areas and on the tank bunds and buffer zones, he said.

7) The drinking water supply to Bengaluru, which was cut off following heavy rainfall in Karnataka's Mandya, has been partially restored. One of the pumping stations in TK Halli is up and running, and work to restore the second is underway. CM Bommai said the supply would return to normal in the next few days.

8) The excess rain was caused by a shear zone that formed near 4.5-5.8 kilometres above mean sea level and deposited heavy rains in south interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru City. A shear zone is a monsoon weather feature that is an area filled with opposing winds concentrating heavy rain in that zone.

9) The state government has decided to release Rs 300 crore to manage the flood situation in the city. The administration has also proposed the construction of sluice gates for all lakes in Bengaluru in order to regulate the overflow of water during heavy rainfall.

10) According to the Bengaluru civic body, flooding is only limited to 56 sq km of the 800 sq km area of the city, and action is being taken to remove obstacles in the waterways to prevent flooding.