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Search on for man who fell into drain in Bengaluru due to heavy rains
60-year-old Muniyamma died instantly after an apartment compound wall fell on her shed-house in Kaveri Nagar under Mahadevapura Police Station limits. She worked at a factory in the area. Her son and daughter-in-law were injured in the incident
Search operations are underway to locate a 24-year-old man who was washed away in a stormwater drain in the city after heavy rains lashed parts of Karnataka in the wee hours of Saturday, which also resulted in the death of a woman, police said.
According to the information provided by residents to the police, heavy rains poured near the Gayathri Layout region of the city, due to which the Seegehalli Lake overflowed and the wall adjoining the drain collapsed.
“We received information about the incident around 1.30 pm. We were told that as there was flooding, Mithun, a civil engineer from Shivamogga, went to remove his motorcycle parked near the stormwater drain. While he was moving it, he slipped and fell into the drain, and he was washed away,” said Ravi Prakash, Chief Fire Officer, Karnataka Fire and Emergency Services.
According to Prakash, the victim’s friends and some neighbours tried to rescue him, but they were unsuccessful. “Realising the magnitude of the situation, we sent our teams to the location and based on their request, we deployed SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) and later NDRF (National Disaster Response Force). We have been searching throughout the night, and the search continues even now,” he said.
Around 100 officials of the fire brigade, NDRF and SDRF are currently searching. “Based on our assessment of the water flow, we are currently searching the Hoskote Lake. Our teams had searched location last night, but all efforts are focused on the lake,” Prakash added.
At least 10 people have been washed in the stormwater drains since 2009. Bodies of four of them have been buried in sludge and garbage after attempts to retrieve their bodies failed due to the poor conditions of these stormwater drains.
According to rescue experts of the Karnataka fire and emergency department, there is little hope of finding someone who has been washed away in the stormwater drain as the conditions inside these drains are life-threatening.
“These drains have toxic fumes inside them. It is not possible to enter without breathing apparatus. Most of the drains have not been maintained for years, and there is so much garbage within them that even if a child’s body is buried in it, we won’t be able to see it,” said a regional fire officer rank officer in Bengaluru, who didn’t want to be named.
The above-cited officer said that in several cases, the department brought in experts from the NDRF, who have better equipment than the fire and rescue department. However, even they had to call off several search operations because the situation was life-threatening, the officer added.
In another incident, a woman died after the house wall collapsed on her in the late-night rain. A case has been registered at Mahadevpura Police station.
60-year-old Muniyamma died instantly after an apartment compound wall fell on her shed-house in Kaveri Nagar under Mahadevapura Police Station limits. She worked at a factory in the area. Her son and daughter-in-law were injured in the incident.
Meanwhile, some of the areas in the city are inundated and water has entered at least 150 houses. Sai Layout in Horamavu is one of the worst-affected areas. Several people are stuck inside their houses as rainwater has surrounded their houses up to knee-deep, officials said.
Officials are trying to drain out the water. Last month, a similar situation arose and chief minister Basavaraj Bommai visited the location and assured them to fix the problem.
The Nimhans north compound, too, collapsed on Saturday, destroying a parked vehicle in Hennur. A retaining wall of a stormwater drain collapsed in Singapore Layout, which has led to a huge amount of water flowing into nearby houses, officials said.
