First rain offers very little to cheer for Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The first summer rains may have brought down the mercury level in Bengaluru on Tuesday but the software hub of Whitefield bore the brunt as roads were inundated just as professionals were heading back home from work. The city received 12.8 mm rainfall.

Software professional Amit Singh was driving back home from Bellandur to Kadugodi on the newly-asphalted State Highway 35 (Whitefield-Varthur road). “I saw at least five spots of heavy water-logging. If this is what happens to a new road for a half hour rain, then we're definitely going back to square one,“ Singh said.

Techie Ajay Ghosh MK said it must have taken road users nearly an hour to get to Marathahalli from Whitefield on Tuesday evening, a distance that generally requires about 25 minutes.

“Vehicles weren't moving at all,“ he said. “I could see that the Whitefield-Varthur Kodi road was full of muddy water, a sign of the weak drainage system here. I saw one bus that broke down and almost capsized.“

Traffic movement was further hit when a tree branch fell onto the Munnekolala road near Marathahalli and a tree uprooted in Whitefield. Tree falls were also reported from Basavanapura, Indiranagar 14th main, HSR Layout and Puttenahalli. The BBMP received complaints of rainwater entering homes in Marathahalli and JP Nagar.

The Meteorological Department has forecast more rainfall over the next two days. The maximum temperature on Tuesday dropped to 22.4 degrees Celsius at 8:30 pm from 35.4 recorded last Saturday , the highest so far this year. With more rains expected, the city may not yet beat its alltime high of 37.3 degrees Celsius recorded on March 29, 1996.

Several areas in the city including Indiranagar, Shivajinagar, Jayanagar and Koramangala will not have power supply from mor ning to after noon on Wednesday due to maintenance work being carried out by Bescom. However, with more rainfall expected, bracing the summer without power may not be difficult.