Heavy rains lash Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Moderate to heavy rains measuring upto 99mm accompanied by thunder showers and winds lashed Bengaluru on Monday, flooding the city’s low-lying areas, a weather official said.

“Several areas have recorded moderate to heavy showers with the maximum rainfall in certain areas measuring upto 99.5mm as of 8.30 a.m. on Monday morning,” the official from the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC) told IANS.

According to India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Bengaluru Chief Sundar M. Metri, the south west monsoons are still active in the region.

“The south west monsoon is still active over the state. Depression in the Bay of Bengal is the reason for the rains that the state has been receiving,” Metri told IANS.

Heavy rains were also witnessed in north and interior districts of the state.

The 10-million residents of Bengaluru woke up to a cloudy and wet morning as several areas of the city were inundated by the rain water leaving many drains overflowing.

Traffic snarls were witnessed on several arterial roads of the city on Monday morning with normal life being affected as public faced tough time commuting through the flooded roads.

However, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials said there were no reports of falling of trees, electric poles or any other distress calls as a result of the rain.

According to the KSNDMC, the city received a total of 812mm of rainfall in the month of September from 1 to 24, as against the normal of 584mm.

The total rainfall received in the city during the month measured about 39 per cent higher than the normal.

Few spells of rain or thundershowers are likely to continue in the city over the next two days, according to IMD.

IANS