Written by Sanskriti Shaw
Bengaluru is facing its heaviest pre-monsoon rainfall in two years, causing flooding, waterlogging, and major traffic problems. The weather department has issued an orange alert of heavy rainfall for Bengaluru and a yellow alert for several other areas of Karnataka.
In the past 24 hours, Bengaluru received 130 mm of rain, with 105.5 mm falling in just 12 hours from Sunday evening to Monday morning. The heavy rain flooded around 500 homes, streets in several high-end areas turned into streams, and main roads like underpasses and flyovers were shut down due to flooding. The heavy rainfall was caused by a combination of weather factors, including a cyclonic system over the Bay of Bengal and a weather front stretching from Maharashtra to Kerala, passing through Karnataka.
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Heavy rains have caused tragic deaths in the city. Manmohan Kamath (63) and Dinesh (12), the son of a security guard, were electrocuted while pumping out rainwater at Madhuvana Apartment in Dollars Colony. In another incident, Shashikala D (32) a housekeeping worker, died when the compound wall of her office building collapsed. Two more people died due to lightning strikes in Raichur and Karwar.
The Opposition party has blamed the government’s “irresponsibility” for the rain-related chaos in Bengaluru. They said just one day of rain damaged the city’s global reputation. BJP leader R. Ashok criticized the Congress government’s “Brand Bengaluru” image, saying the rain exposed its failures. He also demanded ₹1,000 crore be released immediately for relief efforts.
(Sanskriti Shaw is an intern with The Theorist)
