Rain batters Bengaluru-Mysuru highway, lakes overflow

BENGALURU: Traffic on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway was disrupted for several hours on Saturday, after portions of the Bengaluru-Mysuru state highway (being upgraded to National Highway) were washed away after two lakes overflowed near Kumbalgodu on the outskirts of Bengaluru following heavy rain on Friday night.
Sheshagiri village lake and Kanminike lake, located along the highway, overflowed and flooded the busy stretch bringing weekend traffic towards Mysuru and neighbouring Kerala to a halt resulting in a traffic jam spanning several kilometres. At two places the roads chipped off due to the intensity of the gushing waters.
Vehicles were stuck in the jam in both directions of the state highway.
According to revenue officials from Bangalore South taluk, the incident occurred between 3am and 4am. "The unprecedented rainfall in just a few hours led to the lakes overflowing. As the water levels rose, small culverts and drains could not withstand the pressure and caved in. This led to flooding of the highway with 2 to 3 feet of water leaving several vehicles stranded in both directions," explained an official.
Vehicles were stuck in a jam starting from Nice junction till Ramanagara town.
Commuters stranded for hours, regret quality of work undertaken on stretch
Police personnel, who were regulating traffic, told STOI that the traffic snarl which began as early as 5am continued till noon with adjoining lakes and water bodies too overflowing.
Police tried to divert the Mysuru-bound traffic towards Kanakapura Road via Shyanumangala Cross near Bidadi. Interior village roads too witnessed prolonged traffic jams due to the high density of vehicles.
Ranju Thomas, a techie from BTM Layout who was heading to Kerala, said, "We have been stuck in the jam since 6am. We started early keeping in mind the traffic scenario, but this turned out to be worse than a nightmare. Even at 10am, there is no sign of the pile-up clearing. This shows the quality of work which is being undertaken along the stretch." Dileep Rai BM, a marketing professional, who was heading to Mysuru for the festive week returned to the city after being stuck for more than four hours near Kumbalgodu.
Villagers turn good Samaritans
When nothing seemed to be moving for the commuters stuck in Saturday's gridlock, villagers came as a hope to many. From as early as 5am till noon, when police personnel arrived at several spots to resolve the crisis, it was villagers who tried to declog the highway and some even helped the stranded travellers with water and fruits.
"A few of the villagers rushed near Kanminike and Sheshagirihalli junctions with torches and worked hard to decongest the canals and allow water to pass through. We did not see any official or minister visiting the stretch to see what was happening," said a traveller.