The rain that wreaked havoc on Monday (October 11) at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) was the highest rainfall recorded in a decade.
Geeta Agnihotri, head of the Meteorological Department in Bengaluru, told The Hindu that 178.3 mm of rainfall was recorded at the airport in 24 hours. Due to a sudden downpour on October 11 evening, roads leading to the terminal were inundated. Movement of vehicles was badly hit for several hours on the approaching roads. Some of the taxis broke down owing to waterlogging. The flooding of the roads had many passengers relying on a tractor to reach the airport. “The observatory at the international airport started functioning in 2011. Since then, the highest rainfall recorded in the premises was on October 11. More rainfall was also recorded in several parts of Tumakuru district such as Bargur and Sira,” she said.
Drainage system
After videos of the flooded roads went viral on social media, some sections criticised the drainage system. The Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) has maintained that the drainage system was working well and said that sudden high intensity rain caused waterlogging for a short duration.“A very heavy, unprecedented downpour on the evening of October 11 caused waterlogging in parts of the kerb side of KIA. Since it began operations in 2008, the airport has not seen such unprecedented rain on a single day. Though the drainage system in the kerb area is working well, the sudden high intensity rain caused waterlogging for a short duration. Our team was immediately pressed into action and the issue has been resolved. There was waterlogging at one of the junctions and our traffic staff was present to redirect traffic,” said a spokesperson of BIAL.
Due to bad weather and poor visibility, 20 departing flights between 5.30 p.m to 11.59 p.m were hit on Monday. The forecast from the Meteorological Centre suggests that Bengaluru and neighbouring areas will have generally cloudy sky and few spells of rain/thundershowers. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be 28 and 21 degrees Celsius respectively.
Watch | With Bangalore airport flooded, tractors ferry people
Man dies of electrocution
A man died of electrocution in his rented waterlogged house in K.P. Agrahara on Monday night. The deceased has been identified as Venkatesh, 56, a resident of 8th Cross. He was a wall painter.
According to the police, Venkatesh got electrocuted when he was trying to turn the light on. He was living with his partner Shyamala in the house for 12 years. The couple had gone outside in the evening and on their return around 10 p.m., they found their house waterlogged due to the rain. Venkatesh asked Shyamala to stay out, went in himself, switched on the light and got electrocuted, the police added.
Though Shyamala cried for help, Venkatesh died on the spot, before the neighbours reached. His daughter, who stays in the same area, rushed to their home on learning about the incident.
The jurisdictional K.P. Agrahara police went to the spot and handed over the body to the family after the postmortem on Tuesday. A case of unnatural death has been registered and further investigation is on.
