Rain, Thunderstorm Lash Bengaluru: Metro Services Temporarily Suspended, Yellow Alert In 14 Dists

Bengaluru registered a record spell of rain last evening. Many trees were uprooted and branches fell on roads, houses and vehicles leading to severe damage. Also, waterlogging of rainwater affected movement of vehicles.

Bengaluru:Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorm battered Bengaluru on Sunday evening leading to severe traffic congestion in many parts of the city. Even metro rail services were temporarily suspended after tree branches fell on the viaduct track between MG Road and Trinity stations.

With the onset of monsoons yesterday, Meteorological department has sounded yellow alert for 14 districts of Karnataka including Dakshina Kannada, Bagalkote, Koppal, Raichur, Vijayapura, Yadagiri, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru City, Chikkaballapura, Chitradurga, Hassan, Mandya, Mysuru and Tumakuru.

Traffic came to a standstill due to waterlogging in Sheshadripuram, Shivananda Circle, Vijayanagar, Shivajinagar, Malleswaram, Vasantnagar, Shantinagar, Jayanagar, Yeshavantpur, Rajajinagar, Koramangala, MG Road, Kabban Park, Banashankari, Kumaraswamy Layout, Elachenahalli, Uttarahalli and Padmanabhanagar.

On the road connecting MMT Junction and KR Pura from the Kasthuri Nagar side of Bengaluru, rainwater flooded the MMT bus stand causing problems for the motorists heading towards Whitefield and Mahadevapur. Also, similar problems were witnessed by motorists going to Ramamurthy Nagar due to waterlogging between Kasthuri Nagar and Jayamahal Main Road.

With the metro train service between MG Road and Indira Nagar being suspended for a few hours, services were operated only between Indiranagar and Whitefield and that from Challaghatta to MG Road metro stations on Purple Line, Namma Metro Public Relations Officer Shrivas Rajagopalan said.

In Kanakanagar of Yalachenahalli, residents took to the streets to protest after rainwater entered their houses. They said that they have been struggling with this problem during the monsoons for the last 15 years.

According to the Meteorological Department, Bengaluru city received 69 mm rainfall. Of which, Electronic City received the highest rainfall of 29 mm while 21 mm rain was recorded in Somapur and 45 mm in Madawara.

Bengaluru city and surrounding areas will remain mostly cloudy for the next 24 hours while few areas will experience heavy rainfall, MET official said. The maximum and minimum temperature will be around 30 and 20 degree Celsius respectively.

Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said, ''It is raining heavily in Bengaluru and all kinds of precautionary measures have been taken to combat the situation. Arrangements have been made to tackle waterlogging. The control room is keeping a close watch on the situation."

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