Although floodwaters receded in some areas in Bengaluru, images of people rushing out of submerged localities in tractors are set to linger on in people's memory for a long and the only silver lining now is the respite from torrential rains. Additionally, incessant rainfall in other states of southern India has thrown normal lives out of gear. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall in Hyderabad, Karnataka and Telangana for a few more days.
Bengaluru rains and relief measures
While elected representatives of the ruling BJP faced tough questions over tackling the deluge in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday said he would bat for special grants from the Centre to handle the situation arising out of the damage caused by the downpour to civic infrastructure. Parts of Bengaluru that were battered by torrential rains for the last couple of days appeared to be slowly returning to normalcy with floodwaters receding in some areas. According to official sources, waterlogging has been cleared on most roads, while work is on draining water in other affected areas. Traffic is almost returning to near-usual levels and complete normalcy is hoped for soon.
For people, whose routine life was thrown out of gear due to the showers, the respite is that the rains have stopped. However, many residents could not forget the travails they endured, like those who live in 'Epsilon', a posh gated community in North Bengaluru. Almost all in Epsilon were top business executives and in this neighbourhood, high-end cars were submerged, household belongings were washed away and they used tractors and boats to reach places of safety. Bengaluru South Lok Sabha member Tejasvi Surya was trolled and criticised by a section of social media users, who accused him of relishing dosa and promoting an eatery in his constituency when many parts of the city reeled under torrential rains and floods. The Congress party targeted him for eating dosa and 'mocking people' when the city drowned.
On social media, some people questioned the other two Bengaluru BJP MPs Sadananda Gowda (North) and P C Mohan (Central), on their contribution to handling the situation arising from the rains and the deluge. There were also several tweets blaming the city's MLAs and political class. Bommai on Wednesday said his government will seek special grants from the Union government as compensation for the damage caused in rain-battered Bengaluru. He held a meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) headed by the Home Ministry’s joint secretary Ashish Kumar, which is visiting Karnataka to take stock of the flood situation in the State. “We have shared details on damages caused during three stages of rainfall - July, August and the first week of September,” Bommai said. The CM apprised the team that Rs 500 crore was released twice to take up restoration of damaged infrastructure, and another Rs 600 crore was released earlier this week.
Rainfall prediction in other states
The IMD has predicted widespread rainfall with isolated heavy falls and thunderstorm/lightning over Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. On the other hand, Telangana, coastal and north interior Karnataka and Kerala will receive rainfall over the next five days.
North interior Karnataka will receive more rainfall on Friday and Saturday, while coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam and Telangana will receive a downpour from Thursday to Saturday. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is also likely over south interior Karnataka on Thursday.
Meanwhile, traffic jams and waterlogging were reported at several places in Hyderabad on Wednesday evening following heavy rain.
(with inputs from PTI)
