Rain, stalled drain work flood houses in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: Unfinished work taken up by BBMP's stormwater drain department led to flooding during heavy rain on Monday afternoon at Pushpagiri Layout, behind Hosakerehalli Lake in south Bengaluru.
BBMP officials said four to five houses were affected by the flooding. The department had taken up work near the layout a few months ago but abandoned it due to unknown reasons for some weeks. Trenching was done and rainwater entered the layout through the trench on Monday. The BBMP control room received a complaint about waterlogging and a rescue team put sandbags to prevent water from entering the layout. The water receded after rain stopped.
According to civic officials, the contractor responsible for the incomplete work switched off his mobile after learning about the flooding. "We are trying to contact him and will take action against him," said an officer. BBMP officials said the SWD department has taken up work from the bridge (kere kodi) to the waste weir of Hosakerehalli Lake. The contractor had excavated the land, finished reinforcement, but hadn't completed the wall. It was abandoned a month ago.
Apart from Pushpagiri Layout, rainwater entered two houses behind Dattatreya Temple in Hosakerehalli and one house on 12th main road in Girinagar.
Water stagnated on Kadirenahalli Main Road and outside Namma Metro station near Lalbagh. Traffic movement was slowed in Shantinagar as a tree branch fell on the road. A tree was uprooted at Srinivasanagar in Basavanagudi.