Heavy rain in Bengaluru causes chaos, more showers expected till May 21

Bengaluru hit by heavy rain causing flooding, tree falls, and traffic chaos, with more showers expected, prompting yellow alert.

Heavy rain that lashed Bengaluru through Saturday evening left a trail of destruction, flooding roads and houses, causing tree falls, and throwing traffic and life out of gear.

Motorists were seen struggling to wade through waterlogged roads in several parts of the city. Many residential areas also reported flooding. Neelufar Ahmad from Sai Layout, which has seen several episodes of rain-related misery, said parts of the layout were flooded again on Saturday - a first since the city started receiving pre-monsoon rains. “The water level is increasing, and if the rain continues, the situation will worsen,” she said on Saturday night.

Traffic was hit too. “There was massive pile up in most places that I travelled to. We left Kanakapura Road at 6.45 p.m. to Ulsoor, and when we reached Double Road, Google Maps was showing another 45 minutes to go,” said Subramanya.

Multiple roads including Sakra hospital road, a portion of Sarjapur road and others were inundated early on Saturday morning too. The locals in the area say that the BBMP has consecutively failed to deliver the promise of resolving the flooding issue here and ongoing road workers at Sakra hospital road have worsened the situation. 

Between 6 pm and 9 pm, a total of eight tree fall complaints were reported across different zones in the city. The highest number of tree falls was reported in the South Zone, with three incidents. East, Mahadevapura, Yelahanka, and West zones each reported one tree fall, while Dasarahalli, Bommanahalli, and R.R. Nagar reported none.

Bengaluru will continue to get respite from the summer heat as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast rainfall and thundershowers till May 21. A yellow alert has been issued for the city.

As per the IMD, parts of Karnataka are also likely to witness heavy showers and thunderstorms on Sunday, with gusty winds reaching speeds of 40–50 kmph.