Traffic hit as roads turn rivers in Bengaluru, again

BENGALURU: There was no respite from heavy rainfall in parts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, as it threw normal life out of gear on Thursday. Rainfall of up to 103mm in various parts of the city flooded low-lying areas such as HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Electronics City, Shivajinagar and others. Despite it being a government holiday, there was no respite from the traffic chaos due to the showers.

Commuters travelling to or from Electronics City had a tough time on Thursday as the stretch from Silk Board to Electronics City was heavily inundated.The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority had warned about possible floods in parts of East, Central and South Bengaluru on Wednesday.

According to Sundar M Metri, director-in-charge, Indian Meteorological Department, this condition is expected to continue till Saturday in South-interior Karnataka region. Heavy rainfall is forecast in the northern parts from Sunday. SSM Gavaskar, scientist at Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell told Express the rain was due to the presence of upper air cyclonic circulations in both the coasts of the Indian peninsula.

Lightning claims 7 lives

Lightning claimed seven lives in the state, with six deaths reported in Hunaswadi village of Mysuru’s Periyapatna taluk alone. Six people, who rushed to a temple for shelter when it began to rain on Thursday afternoon, were struck by the lightning and died. The temple was also damaged. Lightning claimed one more life in Kalaburagi.