BBMP receives 150 tree fall complaints after rains lash Bengaluru

Heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds toppled trees and left several areas waterlogged on Sunday evening. More than 150 complaints of tree fall or falling of branches were received from the south and west divisions. Officials said there were no casualties.

Complaints of tree fall were received from Jayanagar, Basavanagudi, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Kengeri, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Shantinagar, HAL, Koramangala, Bommanahalli, Begur, Singasandra and other areas, while similar complaints also came in from Yeshwantpur, Yelahanka, Rajajinagar and Basaveshwaranagar.

Reports of waterlogging came from several roads, including GKVK Road, BTM Layout Main Road, Koramangala, Shivananda Circle, Ejipura, KR Market and other parts of central Bengaluru.

"More than 150 complaints of fallen trees/branches have been received by the BBMP Control Room following this evening’s rain. All the cases are being attended by our teams and the Fire Department. The roads will be cleared by tonight," BBMP Commissioner B H Anil Kumar tweeted.

Officials said nearly 90 complaints of tree branches falling were received. "At this stage, we think about 40 to 50 trees have fallen. However, we will verify this by Monday morning,” an official in the BBMP's forest division told DH.

Since the curfew-like restrictions were in place on Sunday, the movement of people was minimal. “We may not know about waterlogging in many areas as people stayed indoors due to the curfew. However, we have not received any reports of casualties till now,” an official said.

Sarakki gets highest rainfall

The findings by KSNDMC revealed that parts of Bengaluru South witnessed heavy and intense rainfall. The highest rainfall was witnessed at Sarakki (46 mm), followed by Vidyapeeta ward (45 mm). Jayanagar witnessed 43 mm and Konankunte ward received 42 mm rainfall till 10 pm. Areas like BTM Layout (39.5 mm), Kumaraswamy Layout (36.5 mm), Chamarajpet (39 mm) and RR Nagar (29.5 mm) received heavy rainfall for over two hours in the evening.

Bengaluru unplugged

Two hours of incessant rain, which brought down several trees and branches, left various parts of the city in a pool of darkness. In several areas, there were power cuts spanning six to seven hours due to trees and branches falling on the transmission lines. The Bescom helpline received more than 5,000 complaints and Bescom personnel along with BBMP and city traffic policemen were working till late night to remove the fallen trees and restore electricity in several areas. Areas like Kanakapura Road, Rajajinagar, Basaveshwara Nagar, Nagarbhavi, Adugodi, Indiranagar, Lakkasandra and Koramangala witnessed power cuts for several hours.