The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Another spell of rain leads to flooding, traffic jams

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Wednesday, Aug 20, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Another spell of rain leads to flooding, traffic jams

Staff Reporter

Chikkabegur lake overflows; sewage enters houses

Trees were uprooted at three places
Sanitary lines blocked in HSR Layout

— Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

IN A JAM: Vehicles caught in slow-moving traffic on Raj Bhavan Road following heavy rain in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Bangalore: Heavy rain in the city for the second consecutive day on Tuesday put citizens to hardship.

Several low-lying areas and roads were flooded and there was traffic chaos in many areas.

Flooding on major roads resulted in traffic jam for over two hours in the city between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

In Bommanahalli, the Chikkabegur lake that is already full with sewage overflowed on Monday night and flooded the surrounding areas, including MICO Layout, Vishwapriya Layout, Muniyappa Layout, Vajpayee Layout and Om Shakti Layout.

Sanitary lines were blocked in these areas and sewage entered houses.

“I spent the whole of Monday clearing the water. Our toilets were blocked,” Vinaya S. Lingasur, a resident of Muniyappa Layout, said.

Lakshman Kumar Selvaraj, a resident of MICO Layout, said that his car got stuck in water on the road, and he was forced to leave it there until Tuesday morning.

R. Balasubramani, secretary of Vishwapriya Layout Residents Welfare Association, said the “rajakaluve” (main channel) of Chikkabegur lake had been encroached upon, blocking the flow of rainwater.

“This has caused flooding in our layout,” he said.

“Rain on Tuesday has only added to our problems. Repeated complaints to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have been of no use,” Mr Selvaraj said.

On Tuesday, trees were uprooted in Koramangala and Bommanahalli and sanitary lines blocked in HSR Layout. Traffic was affected all over the city.

Low-lying areas, including Chandra Layout, Nayandahalli on Mysore Road, Deepanjali Nagar, Ranganathapura, parts of Kamakshipalya, Devarajeevanahalli, K.R. Garden, Manjunathnagar and Pushpanjali Nagar, were inundated.

Except for the uprooting of a tree in Padmanabhanagar, no other incident was reported at the BBMP control rooms.

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