Bengaluru turns 'city of islands'; 2000 homes flooded, minister George faces public fury
- Over 2,000 houses flooded in nearly 30 areas after the City received rain for just an hour
- Residents had found an elevated place to protect themselves from being flooded
- Government primary school in KR Pura flooded, documents of children feared to be destroyed
FollowBengaluru has literally turned into an island with the incessant rains that is lashing the city for the past five days. In just one hour of rain, over 2,000 houses were inundated in at least 30 areas that included Thanisandra, Cox Town, Ramamurthy Nagar, Begur, Hebbal and others.
On Sunday, residents in Fathima Layout, Jinapura, Muneshwaranagar and Yarayyanapalya were woken up by their deep sleep when the drain water entered into their homes forcing them to run out of the houses. Many women clutching their kids ran out of the homes only to get drenched in the pouring rain. "It was like we were lost in an island. We didn't know where to go," said a resident from Thanisandra to Kannada Prabha. A storm water drain that passes through the Koudenahalli lake near Ramamurthy Nagar has been overflowing flooding the temples and churches. These areas seemed like an island forcing the residents to occupy an elevated place to protect themselves from the drain water, reports Kannada Prabha.
Even on Monday morning, the rain water had not receded forcing the residents to wade through the drain water to go by their daily activities. Besides, the food and food materials that were stocked up in the kitchen were destroyed leaving the residents worried. "We didn't even have a biscuit pack to feed our young children. As the water had not receded, no shops were open too. Who do we complain to? Authorities concerned are least bothered to visit these areas," rued Sushma Reddy, a resident of Nandagokula Layout. Later in the day, they were provided food by Appaji Canteen.
Worse, the residents of the layout complained that they had no place to protect themselves after they saw snakes in the drain water. "Our children were scared of moving an inch after they saw snakes and scorpions in the water," said Sushma.
In fact, the government primary school and the block education office at KR Pura have been completely flooded. The impact was such that the office files, computers and furniture had been destroyed. As a result, the KR Puram school was declared a holiday. It is feared that the documents of at least 2.27 lakh students at the block education office many have been destroyed. According to the Weather officials, the KR Pura received 66.50 mm rainfall, 74 mm in Bidarahalli, 58 mm in Kengeri and 54 mm in Kottigepalya in Rajarajeshwarinagar. They have predicted rain for another two days.
The residents were fuming at the indifferent attitude of the people's representatives. Even after 10 am the next day, none of the authorities concerned cared to visit them. However, when district in-charge minister KJ George arrived at Nanda Gokula Layout in Thanisandra, all hell broke loose. They made George walk through the drain water to understand their plight. They cursed him, took him to task and were not at all convinced when he volunteered to offer promise.
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