As civic life in Bengaluru struggles to stay afloat after heavy rains on Thursday night, the city is expected to receive light to moderate rainfall over the next 24 hours said Sundar M Metri, Director, IMD Bengaluru.
While Bengaluru city received 4cm rainfall, the airport area received 2.4cm, he added. “These rains were caused by a trough running from Marathwada to South Tamil Nadu across interior Karnataka, with an upper air cycle circulation embedded in the system. If the trough continues, light to moderate rainfall is expected over the next 24 hours,” he said.
Metri further said that Mysore has received 8cm rainfall and Rayalpadu in Kolar has received 10 cm, which he classifies as heavy rainfall. By comparison, Bengaluru’s showers seem lighter, but have caused lakes to overflow and streets and low-lying areas to flood.
Environmentalist Ullas Kumar says that the flooding is caused by a larger lapse in planning and global climate change, and topography has nothing to do with it. “Storm water drains in the city have been rendered inaccessible or built over by real estate. Lakes are shrinking. Even in between lakes, you have so many residential layouts and roads. Then when the water overflows, where will it go?” he asks.
He further adds that Bengaluru is a part of a global pattern which is seeing less rainy days but more intense rainfall. “For example, the rainfall we’re supposed to receive in 2-3 days, we now do in two hours,” he says.
In Bengaluru so far, the most affected regions are Kodichikkanahalli and Vijaya Bank Colony, said HS Varadarajan, Chief Fire Officer. He also told TNM that some compound walls had been broken so the water could flow into the Madiwala lake.
“We have rescued 20 persons till now and also carried out rescue operations in a school in the area. Water level is coming down. We should hope for the best. If it rains again, these areas will be flooded once more," he said.
Here is a region wise breakdown of the rainfall recorded in Bengaluru so far.
#BBMP 24Hrs. Rainfall with TOP 40 Highest received Rainfall locations pic.twitter.com/jJnv1KacP1
— KSNDMC (@KarnatakaSNDMC) July 29, 2016
In Karnataka, there appears to be a shift in the rainfall pattern as many areas received more rainfall than expected, while others received less. Srinivas Reddy, Director of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said Malnad and coastal regions were in the latter category. Other north interior and south interior parts of Karnataka have received higher amounts of rainfall, he added.
Kodagu district meanwhile, has received less rainfall than usual, Metri told TNM. He added however that it was still too early to say if there is a larger shift in the rainfall pattern and insisted that we must wait and see how the monsoon progresses in the rest of the season.