Bengaluru: Monday rain highest for August in 127 years

BENGALURU: When Bengaluru went to sleep on Monday night, the city had received 44.8mm of rain for August. When it woke up on Tuesday morning, that figure had risen by 128.7mm - the highest rainfall in a day since 1890, according to the Met department. It made up nearly 88% of the rain expected over the entire month, pouring down on the city from 11pm on Monday to 4am on Tuesday.
The highest-ever rainfall recorded in the city in a day was on August 27, 1890, when Bengaluru received 162.1mm of rain. According to the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSDMC), that record was broken on Tuesday. It said the city received 184cm of rain since Monday night, the highest being recorded in Bilekahalli.
The overnight rain flooded several parts of the city, submerging parking lots and entire road stretches, and snapped power in vast swathes since the early hours of Tuesday. The Yediyur lake breached a retaining wall, while foam from the Bellandur lake flowed to neighbouring localities. Over 40 rescue boats came out in ST Bed area of Koramangala, while the fire department was called to flush out water from apartments in HSR Layout, Koramangala, Jayanagar and Bannerghatta Road, among other areas. At least 26 trees were uprooted. Wildlife volunteers received panic calls as snakes entered homes in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, JP Nagar, Nagarabhavi, Thanisandra, Uttarahalli and Puttenahalli.
South Bengaluru, home to IT majors and startups, was the worst affected. BTM Layout, Bilekahalli, Koramangala, Arakere, Pattabhiramanagar and Sampangiramanagar received 12.4cm of rain or more overnight.
Most Bengalureans heaved a sigh of relief as it was Independence Day: There was no school or office to get to, negotiating the traffic nightmare on the flooded roads. Some I-T professionals had horror stories to relate on waterlogging while returning from night shifts on Monday but there was no untoward incident.
While waterlogging complaints were being attended to till late at night, the power situation was back to normal in most parts of the city.
Wednesday, a working day, may prove to be troublesome though as thousands of commuters hit the roads. The met department has predicted heavy rainfall for at least another day, due to cyclonic conditions over south coastal Tamil Nadu. While Tuesday was largely cloudy, there was heavy rain in the evening, especially in the north, northwest and eastern parts.