Heavy rains disrupt life in Bengaluru, Bellandur Lake spills toxic foam again

Bengaluru was hit by strong torrential rain on Monday night which has drastically affected the eastern and southern part of the city and resulting in a toxic spill from the Bellandur Lake.

The same areas were the worstaffected during last year's floods as well.

The rains continued till the wee hours of Tuesday.

The unexpected downpour,the maximum recorded in recent times, has disrupted normal life in the city. Reports indicate a blockade of major roads, huge traffic, and several tree falls.

The Meteorological Centre, Bengaluru stated that the HAL station recorded a heavy rainfall of 14.4 cm and the City station 12.9 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

The roads and residential accommodation of many places such as Koramangala, HSR Layout, Shantinagar, Wilson Garden, KR Puram, Anugraha Layout, Ulsoor, Vivek Nagar, Murugesh Palya on Old Airport Road and Gurappana Palya on Bannerghatta Road aresubmerged in knee-deep water.

Koramangala was the area worst-affected after the heavy rains.The government did not take any action to improve the flood-prone area even after the devastating floods in July 2016.

Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials have swung into actionbutresidents are still claiminga lack of response from civic officials. Reports quoted one of the residents as sayingthat the officials took over four hours to reach after they were called.

Flooding in the city also disrupted Independence day celebrations at the Parade Ground. BBMP officials had to lay dry sand on the ground before conducting any event.

The havoc created by the floods onIndependence day is areplica of what the city experienced in July last year.

However, civic officials denythat the present floods are at par with the July 2016 floods which had caused lakes to overflow. This is not the case now.