IMD issues red alert for next 2 days; heavy rainfall likely across Karnataka

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao on Tuesday held a virtual meeting with officials and instructed them to stay alert and address any emerging issues promptly.

“All zonal control rooms must promptly respond to complaints from the public. Officers should stay alert and act swiftly to resolve civic issues,” he told officials during the meeting. The civic body has advised residents to remain cautious and encouraged them to report issues via the BBMP helpline number–1533.

- PTI

IMD Tuesday evening upgraded the earlier warning to red alert in seven coastal and south interior districts of Karnataka. Meanwhile, Bengaluru, despite consistent rainfall throughout the day is still under the Orange alert category. IMD has also issued flash flood warnings in all seven districts.

- PTI

Karnataka BJP slammed the ruling Congress for organising ‘Sadhana Samavesha' event to celebrate the party's two years in office, in Vijayanagara district even as Bengaluru was reeling under severe flooding caused by relentless rains since Sunday night.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka said, “There is a flood situation in Bengaluru and elsewhere in Karnataka. We are seeing Bengaluru being submerged in rains. People are suffering. But the ruling Congress leaders, instead of handling the situation, have gone to Ballari to celebrate their two years in the government.”

Senior Congress leaders including Rahul Gandhi and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge attended the event in Hospet, the district headquarter town of Vijayanagara.

- PTI

Several parts of Bengaluru continued to see heavy rainfall after IMD issued a ‘red’ alert for the entire Karnataka region. Here are some visuals from near Vidhana Soudha.

Bangalore South MP Tejasvi Surya Tuesday slammed the Congress government on X ahead of the state government’s two-year celebration in Hospet, after heavy rainfall in the city caused severe waterlogging, traffic disruptions.

“Two years of @INCKarnataka’s #lootsarkara. Achievements? 1. Governance = Zero 2. Taxpayers = Freebie ATMs 3. Law & Order = Missing 4. Corruption = Maxed out Brand Bengaluru? Collapsing with every rain. Citizens want governance, not gimmicks. Karnataka deserves better,” he said in a post on X.

Most of the IT companies along Outer Ring Road between K R Puram and Silk Board in Bengaluru have advised employees to work from home in light of heavy rain.

Hosur Road, covering Electronic City, including the elevated expressway, was closed for traffic movement briefly at around 9.30 am before it was opened at 10.45 am. Electronic City houses major IT firms, including Infosys, TCS, Wipro, and others.

Bangalore Central MP PC Mohan said in an X post, “All companies in Bengaluru, including Infosys, must declare two days of work from home due to rains.”

Rajarajeshwarinagar in Bengaluru received 150 mm rainfall during the 24 hour period ending 8.30 am Tuesday, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.

Parts of Bengaluru, including Udupi, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Bengaluru South, received above 100 mm rainfall over the past two days, according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Tuesday issued a ‘red’ alert for the entire Karnataka region, which will likely experience heavy rainfall over the next two days.

This comes after two consecutive days of rainfall, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds across the state.

Meanwhile, scattered heavy to very heavy, and isolated extreme rainfall is very likely along coastal Karnataka and adjacent Ghat districts today.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said officials are on the field and attending to the issues caused by the downpour, and there is no need for anyone to worry, news agency PTI reported.

Shivakumar, who is also minister in-charge of Bengaluru Development, asserted that the government is committed to protect the lives and properties of the people, as he hit back at the Opposition's criticism of the administration's "failure" in managing the situation, by asking them whether they can stop nature?, as per the report.

"We got information about two deaths late last evening. We have sent out officials. I will also go. Instructions have been given to officials. All are on the field and are attending. There is no need for anyone to worry. Our priority is to save the lives and properties of people. We are committed to it," Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will be visiting some rain affected spots tomorrow. "I visited some spots last night. Irrespective of wherever we are, our duty is to save Bengaluru's pride, and we will do it," he added.

Regarding the opposition criticising the Congress government and its "Brand Bengaluru", the Deputy CM asked, "Can they stop nature? No one can stop. Let them criticise, we will do our duty." Replying to a question on the possibility of more rains, he said, "I'm someone who says let there be rains, let anyone say anything. More the rain comes, the better for the state." When questioned about the condition of roads in Bengaluru, amid rains, Shivakumar said work is on and permanent concrete roads are being laid.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited several rain-affected areas on Monday, and instructed the officials of the affected areas to take necessary measures promptly.

Due to poor road condition, the road from Pai layout towards Tin factory is currently witnessing slow-moving traffic, the Bangalore City Police stated in a post over X.

Slow-moving traffic due to water logging in the following areas:

1.Ibbluru junction towards Sarjapura Road.

2.Kasthuri Nagar towards Tin Factory.

3. Hoodi Bridge towards Hoodi Circle.

4. Goragunte palya towards Muthyallamma Junction.

5. ⁠Bannerghatta Road

6. ⁠1.14th main Service Road towards 5th Main.

7. Kasthuri Nagar towards Ramamurthy nagar

8. Balekundri Junction towards queens Road

9. CQAL Cross RT Nagar towards Mekhri Circle.

10. Queens Road towards Anil Kumble junction.

11, Pothalappa Garden towards Anepalya.

12. RV Dental College towards Lalabagh West Gate.

13. Silk Borad Metro station towards HSR Layout.

14. MPS junction towards Silk Board.

With houses and lanes experiencing flooding following heavy rainfall in parts of Bengaluru, the residents of Sai Layout are in fear as snakes have entered their houses.

A man and a boy were electrocuted while clearing the basement of an apartment of floodwater using a pump set on Monday after heavy overnight rain in Bengaluru, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Manamohan Kamath, 63, a resident of Madhuvana Apartment at Dollar’s Colony in BTM Second Stage, and Dinesh, 12, who is the son of a helper who worked in the apartment.

The incident took place around 6.15 am when Kamath was about to remove floodwater from the basement. He had hired a pump set to flush out the water. As soon as they switched the pump set on, Kamath was electrocuted because of a short circuit, followed by Dinesh, the police said.

Read the full story here.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar Monday said that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has fixed 70 per cent of the 210 flood-prone areas identified in Bengaluru city, and work on the remaining 30 per cent is underway.

Speaking to reporters at the BBMP war room last night, Shivakumar said, “We had identified 210 areas as flood-prone in Bengaluru. Ever since I took over as the Bengaluru Development Minister, we have fixed flooding issues in 166 (70%) of those localities. Flood prevention work is currently going on in 24 areas while work would be taken up soon in the remaining 20 areas. We have built 197 km of storm water drains.”

“The traffic police have identified 132 spots which are flooded during heavy rains. Of these, we have rectified issues in 82 spots and 41 spots are yet to be fixed. We are spending Rs 2,000 crore for storm water drains,” he explained.

“Rain is controlled by nature while we can only try to control the controllable. We are rectifying flood-prone areas and are trying to help the common people. There is no need for people of Bengaluru to be worried about rains. Unfortunately, a woman died due to a wall collapse,” he added.

“Quantum of rainfall has been very high in Silk Board junction, Hebbal and Yelahanka area. Underpass works are underway in a couple of places in these areas and they have been flooded. We will work with those departments to resolve these issues,” he said.

Slow-moving traffic due to water logging in the following areas:

1. Jayadeva Hospital towards East End Circle

2. Varthur College towards Varthur Kodi junction

3. Cottonpet towards Sulthanpet Circle

4. Bilekahalli towards G D Mara

5.Sarakki junction towards Sindhur Junction

A drain overflowed at Balaji Layout Park in Bengaluru's Vajarahalli following heavy rainfall Monday evening. The residents told The Indian Express that they continue to face the same problem every season.

Watch here:

The Bangalore City Police on Tuesday issued an advisory for commuters travelling towards the Hosur road asking them to take alternate routes due to temporary closure of the road, owing to heavy flooding.

"Due to heavy flooding, Hosur Road (Electronic City) is temporarily closed between Silkboard and Rupena Agrahara. The elevated flyover is also closed. Commuters are advised to use alternate roads," the city police said.

Multiple areas in Karnataka have received light to moderate showers since Monday evening, with Mangaluru AP recording the most rainfall at 94.1 mm.

Here's how much rainfall was recorded in different areas since last evening till Tuesday morning, according to the Bengaluru Meteorological Department:

Rainfall in mm from (08: 30 IST of 19th May) to (05:30 IST of 20th May)

Mangaluru AP: 94.1

Bengaluru City: 25.4

Bengaluru HAL AP: 11.4

Gadag: 9.4

Chitradurga: 4.0

Rainfall in mm (Till 17:30 IST of 19th May)

Honnavar: 12.6

Raichur PTO: 8.4

Bidar: 6.8

Panambur: 2.2

Bengaluru KIAL AP: 0.2

Rainfall in mm (Till 05:30 IST of 20th May)

Electronic City (BNG Urban): 31.0

Mangaluru (DK): 30.5

BNG URBAN: 25.0

Mandya: 24.0

Mudigere (Chikkamagaluru): 22.0

Chandurayanagalli (Ramanagara): 20.5

Hanumanmatti (Haveri): 10.0

Davanagere: 6.0

Agumbe (Shivamogga): 5.5

Gangavathi (Koppal): 4.0

Hardanhally (Chamarajanagar): 2.5

Aland (Kalaburagi): 2.5

GoniKoppal (Kodagu): 1.5

Hiriyur (Chitradurga): 0.5

Doddaballapura: 0.5

Almel (Vijayapura): 0.5

Light to moderate rainfall or thundershowers, accompanied by lightning and gusty wind speed reaching 30-40 kmph is likely to occur at isolated places in Bagalkot, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Koppal, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, and Kolar over the next three hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast stated.

Moreover, scattered heavy to very heavy, and isolated extreme rainfall is very likely along coastal Karnataka and adjacent Ghat districts today.

The IMD has issued a ‘yellow alert’ for Bengaluru till Friday, indicating that moderate rainfall is likely to continue across the city.

Waterlogging was reported in several parts of Bengaluru after heavy rainfall lashed the city on Monday

The Opposition BJP lashed out at the ruling Congress after several areas of Bengaluru saw waterlogging in the wake of heavy rain on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday and asked the Karnataka government to release Rs 1,000 crore for relief operations in the city.

In a statement, Leader of Opposition R Ashok said one spell of pre-monsoon showers has exposed the “true colours of Brand Bengaluru”. “In such a situation, the chief minister, his deputy and other ministers, instead of rushing to the aid of victims, are busy preparing for Sadhana Samavesha,” he said. Sadhana Samavesha is an event scheduled on May 20 to mark two years of Congress rule in the state.

The heavy spell of rain left residents of low-lying areas in Bengaluru struggling with waterlogging, and it is expected to continue till Tuesday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an ‘orange’ alert across Karnataka. Several areas across the city received over 100 mm of rain overnight. Read

The heavy spell of rainfall that has left residents of low-lying areas in Bengaluru struggling with waterlogging and related issues is expected to continue till Tuesday, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an ‘orange’ alert, indicating heavy rainfall, across the state.

Heavy rainfall was reported across most areas in Bengaluru between Sunday evening and early on Monday morning, with Rajarajeshwari Nagar recording 132 mm – the highest across Karnataka for the day. Multiple areas across the city received over 100 mm of rain.

While the intensity of rainfall is forecast to subside by Tuesday in Southern Karnataka districts, including Bengaluru, in Northern Karnataka, the orange alert will be applicable till Thursday. Earlier, the IMD had issued a ‘yellow’ alert for Bengaluru till Friday.

Apart from Rajarajeshwari Nagar in South Bengaluru, parts of North Bengaluru such as Vaderahalli received 131.5 mm rainfall, Chikkabanavara 127 mm and Somashettihalli 119.5 mm. The least rainfall received in Bengaluru was 32 mm at Gottigere, according to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Cell data. Read

A 35-year-old woman died in Bengaluru’s IT corridor on Monday morning as the compound wall of a software firm where she worked collapsed following heavy overnight rain.

The deceased, Shashikala, was a housekeeping employee at IZMO Ltd, located in the Mahadevapura police limits, according to police. The incident took place around 7 am when she was at work. She died on the spot as the wall collapsed over her.

The overnight rain resulted in flooding on many roads and in houses in the city. According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), flooding has been reported from at least 10 places in the Mahadevapura zone. The civic agency has deployed six tractors, two rescue boats and staff to deal with the situation.

The Mahadevapura police have registered a case and are investigating the incident. Read

The BJP has blamed the Congress-led Karnataka government on Monday for Bengaluru’s severe rain-related disruptions, accusing it of failing despite spending crores on infrastructure. Former Deputy CM CN Ashwath Narayan mocked D K Shivakumar’s leadership, alleging "zero results" over two years.

BJP leaders, including Sunil Kumar Karkala and Ashwath Narayan Gowda, demanded a white paper on spending and blamed the administration for ignoring weather warnings, according to the PTI reports.

Deputy CM Shivakumar responded by stating that the city's long-standing issues are being addressed with sustainable solutions and reiterated his commitment to the people of Bengaluru.

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is scheduled to visit rain-affected areas on Monday, following heavy rainfall that lashed the city for over six hours during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

A 35-year-old woman in Bengaluru Monday died after a wall collapsed over her following heavy rains last night.

The deceased has been identified as Shashikala, and the incident took place in Bengaluru's Whitefield area.