Thunderstorms with rain and winds lashed the city on Thursday, leaving a trail of uprooted trees, downed electrical lines, and jammed traffic. Residents and motorists scrambled to deal with the damage.
Thunderstorms with rain and winds lashed the city on Thursday, leaving a trail of uprooted trees, downed electrical lines, and jammed traffic. Residents and motorists scrambled to deal with the damage.
A driver luckily escaped unscathed when the branch of a tree fell on his cab near Hudson Circle. However, a little girl sustained injury when a tree fell near her house, as she played near it. She was immediately rushed to hospital.
Gusty winds and heavy rain felled as many as 15 trees, and many roads were blocked by fallen trees on Thursday evening. Traffic woes were compounded, and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was flooded with calls from stranded motorists.
Rush-hour traffic came almost to a halt on HAL II Stage, ESI Hospital at Indiranagar, Old Madras Road, Old Byappanahalli, Chikkasandra and BVK Iyengar Road near Majestic, as trees fell.
In some places like Malleswaram, Avenue Road, Nrupthunga Road, JC Road, Majestic, Hudson Circle, Kempegowda Road, MG Road, Brigade Road, Marathahalli, Whitefield and JP Nagar, traffic moved at a snail’s pace.
BBMP sent out its Prahari vehicles and service men to clear the fallen trees to ease the gridlocks. Traffic policemen found themselves extraordinarily busy clearing choked traffic.
In low-lying areas in Shivajinagar, Chickpet and Balepet, water flooded the roads and even got into people’s homes. Other areas suffered lengthy power outage.
Meanwhile, B Puttana, director, India Meteorological Department, observed that two systems of air movement — one towards South Karnataka and Tamil Nadu border and the other towards South Karnataka and Kerala border — are responsible for such unseasonal rain and thunderstorms.
“Rain with thunderstorms will continue for so long as these two air circulations continue. Clouds have descended and hence moderate rain will wash the city during the afternoons,” Puttana said. So carry your umbrella.
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