People washed away in rains and killed, roads torn apart, trees uprooted due to the ferocity of the downpour… 2017 has set a new record for rainfall in Bengaluru, according to the Indian Meteorological department.
The annual rainfall in the city is 1615.2mm as of Saturday morning, according to ToI, making this the wettest year in recorded history - which spans the last 115 years.
A senior MET department official told ToI that Bengaluru is facing a ‘unique weather system’, as the south-west monsoon has extended, and soon, the city will also face rains from the north-east monsoon.
The incessant rains in Bengaluru have wreaked havoc over the past few days. The situation is so bad that the NDRF has been called in to provide rescue and relief services.
According to The Hindu, this year is also one of the deadliest when it comes to rainfall related deaths. At least 15 people have died in Bengaluru since May in rainfall related incidents, apart from 5 people who were killed in pothole accidents.
On Friday night, a priest was washed away into a stormwater drain, and after an intensive search operations, the NDRF was able to retrieve his body on Saturday. The priest, Vasudev, had been washed away from outside the Venkateswara temple in SVK Layout after heavy rains lashed Kurubarahalli and Mahalakshmi Layout, among other parts of Bengaluru.
A mother-daughter pair who were washed away in the floods on Friday are yet to be traced. 55-year-old Ningavva and 22-year-old Pushpa were washed away when they came onto the road from their rapidly flooding house on Friday night, and were caught up in the heavily flowing rainwater.
In another incident, a woman was rescued from her rapidly drowning car by four good samaritans, who waded through the water in Nayandahalli on Friday night and brought her to safety.
To prevent further casualties, the BBMP is evacuating people in low lying areas in the city, including Kurubarahalli and Nayandahalli, reported The New Indian Express.
Stating that the Met department has predicted heavy rains for the next few days, Mayor Sampath Raj told the publication, "This really puts the people in low lying areas at risk. We are evacuating people from these places and sending them to nearby BBMP and government schools and colleges. Also, we have our own BBMP Community halls."