Road caves in due to heavy rains in West Bengaluru, 70 families shifted out

The heavy yet welcome rain, which brought much relief to Bengaluru after a spell of some hot and sunny weather, caused a road cave-in on Friday morning. The incident took place around 6 am inside a Karnataka Slum Board colony located in Lakshmi Devi Nagar, in west Bengaluru. 

Fortunately, no one was injured in the incident. Although no houses have been damaged, 70 families, who reside in the locality, have been shifted to a community centre by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). More than 10 cars have been damaged. 

Speaking to TNM, M Velu Nayakar, Lakshmi Devi Nagar Corporator, said, “Since it was early morning and heavy rain, no one was outside. But 12 cars were damaged. We will shift all residents of the affected blocks to two nearby BBMP Community Centres until the road is safe again.” 

Although the road comes under the Slum Board, the BBMP Commissioner carried out an initial inspection and care. The Slum Board officials will then have to take care of the situation, the Corporator added. 

There were reports of waterlogging in many areas of the city, although no reports of any urban flooding.

According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, a few stormwater drains overflowed in BTM Layout 2nd stage, Laggere, Jayadeva Hospital and Jayanagar 4th Block 9th Main Road and Metro Reach area in Mysore Road. According to the BBMP officials, the issue in these areas has been attended to. 

At least 12 huge trees had fallen. Many areas in the city also suffered power cuts as a result of the same. Affected areas included Ejipura, Sarjapur road, Attibele, Roopena Agrahara near Bommanahalli police station and surrounding areas, AECS Layout, Kindanahalli and Yelahanka New Town, among others.

Majority of Bengaluru received moderate rainfall with only a few parts getting rather heavy rainfall. Byatarayanapura in Yelahanka zone received the highest rainfall in the last 24 hours, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC).

The KSNDMC on Friday forecast scattered to fairly widespread with moderate to heavy rains associated with thunderstorm activity likely over parts of Malnad and south interior districts, including Bengaluru. Light to moderate rains are likely over parts of north interior Karnataka districts, the forecast further said.

A summary by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in Bengaluru said that rainfall occurred at many places over south interior Karnataka and dry weather prevailed over Coastal Karnataka and North Interior Karnataka. For the next 24 hours, IMD said there will generally be cloudy sky. Maximum and Minimum temperatures are likely to be around 30 and 21 degree Celsius respectively for Bengaluru.