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Rain continues to batter southern states
Several parts of southern India have received heavy rainfall during the northeast monsoon since the first week of November due to frequent formations of low pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal, or cyclonic circulation in the Arabian Sea.
The two biggest cities in southern India, Bengaluru and Chennai, were flooded on Monday due to sudden bursts of heavy rain, even as the death toll in last week’s flooding in Andhra Pradesh increased to 34 with 10 people still reported missing, according to officials in the three states.
Several parts of southern India have received heavy rainfall during the northeast monsoon since the first week of November due to frequent formations of low pressure areas in the Bay of Bengal, or cyclonic circulation in the Arabian Sea.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) rainfall data, Karnataka has received 145.1mm of rain from November 1 to November 21 as against the normal of 35.5mm, Tamil Nadu 299.1mm as against a normal of 142.4mm, Kerala 331.1mm as against a normal of 134.5mm, and Andhra Pradesh 227.3mm as against a normal of 81.1 mm.
Bengaluru
Over 1,600 residents in 604 apartments in Bengaluru’s Kendriya Vihar were asked to vacate their homes after heavy rains on Sunday night inundated the residential complex in the Yelahanka locality. Elsewhere in the city, at least 227 homes were damaged, and another 187 partially damaged, according to data from the Karnataka Disaster Management Authority.
Around 92km of roads was damaged in Bengaluru Urban district, data shows.
“Due to the heavy rain in the city, Yelahanka Lake overflowed, and water flooded Kendriya Vihar and surrounding areas,” the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP - the city’s civic body) said in a statement on Monday. The water is being channelised towards the Kaluve (SWD), which connects Yelahanka Lake to Jakkur lake, the statement read.
Yelahanka is about 15km from Bengaluru city, close to the international airport.
On Monday, at around 2am, the locality recorded over 130mm of rain over a couple of hours, according to IMD, causing up to 4 feet of water-logging in some places, and prompting the BBMP, the fire services, and other agencies to launch a rescue operation to move residents.
“Eighteen NDRF teams used boats and tractors to ferry the residents in and out from the apartment,” BBMP said.
Gaurav Gupta, the chief commissioner of BBMP, on Monday said that action will be taken against officials who allowed violations around the lake that led to flooding.
Experts said the flooding in Yelahanka was a stark reminder of Bengaluru’s rapid and unplanned growth, which has allowed the mushrooming of residential and commercial buildings that are under constant threat of facing problems during heavy downpours.
Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai acknowledged that there have been widespread encroachments of lakes and storm-water drains, affecting the natural flow of water. “I have instructed the officials to take action against the encroachments and provided relief in flood affected places,” the CM said.
According to activists, there are now only 200 lakes in Bengaluru now as compared to over 1,000 about 30 years ago, and water alleys connecting these lakes have been taken over by construction. Weather activist Raj Bhagat P, a civil engineer by profession, tweeted an image of Hebbal valley and said, “More than lakes, the valleys are important to understand and reduce flood damages in cities. But we are building right in the middle of these valleys.”
Bengaluru received 364% excess rains between November 1-21 (till 5.30pm), recording 195 mm of rain as against normal of 42mm during this period. A total of 24 people have lost their lives in November alone, disaster management department data shows, while nearly 200 animals have died due to the rains.
Chennai
On Monday, a sudden spell of heavy rainfall in some parts of Chennai resulted in water-logging in some places including Thyagaraya Nagar, popularly known as T Nagar, which got 20mm of rain in a a couple of hours, continuing the woes of Tamil Nadu’s capital city which has received excess rainfall since November 1.
Officials said that some parts of north Chennai, such as suburban Manali, were under water since Sunday as heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh prompted excess water from the Kosasthalaiyar river in the north region of the city being released.
Though the weather improved by late morning, the sudden showers were not forecast by IMD. “These sudden spells were caused due to a circulation in Andaman,” said N Puviarasan, deputy director, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai said later. The circulation extended up to the coastal Tamil Nadu, he added.
The sudden heavy showers led to instant flooding in the area, with the municipal authorities deploying boats to rescue people.
IMD has issued a yellow alert for districts in Tamil Nadu such as Salem, Villupuram and Vellore for the next three days. A six-member team from the Union government was in Tamil Nadu on Monday to assess rain-related damage. The state has estimated the damage to be over ₹2,700 crore.
Andhra Pradesh
Four days after the rains in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh border, the latter is trying to recover from the impact of heavy rainfall.
Andhra Pradesh agriculture minister K Kanna Babu said the government decided to pay an ex gratia of ₹5 lakh to each the families of people who had lost their lives due to heavy rains and floods. He added that financial assistance of ₹30,000 will be provided to farmers in case of the death of livestock and ₹3,000 in case of sheep and goat. “Standing crops in eight lakh hectares were damaged as per preliminary estimates,” he said.
Eight NDRF and eight SDRF teams, along with two helicopters, were pressed into service for rescue and relief operations in 19 places in the state, the minister said. He added that 57,969 evacuated people have been kept in 294 relief camps.
Each affected family will be provided free ration, chief minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy announced in the state assembly.
