Major areas including Wilson garden, HSR layout, Sai layout, HBR layout, Manyata tech park, Yelahanka, Silk Board junction, Shanti Nagar BMTC bus stop were flooded causing extreme inconvenience to the people.
Published May 19, 2025 | 2:51 PM ⚊ Updated May 19, 2025 | 2:51 PM
Bengaluru floods following heavy rains. (Supplied)
Synopsis: Heavy rains on May 18 night flooded several areas in Bengaluru, including Sai Layout, HSR Layout, and Yelahanka. Over 400 people were rescued, with boats and tractors deployed. Locals blamed poor drainage and narrow vents for repeated flooding. Deputy CM DK Shivakumar assured long-term solutions, criticising previous governments for neglect. Rescue efforts and water removal operations continue.
Several parts of Bengaluru City continued to flood on Monday, 19 May, as the city received heavy rain in the midnight. According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Bengaluru received over 104 mm rainfall on Friday, 18 May night and is under yellow alert.
Major areas including Wilson garden, HSR layout, Sai layout, HBR layout, Manyata tech park, Yelahanka, Silk Board junction, Shanti Nagar BMTC bus stop were flooded causing extreme inconvenience to the people.
While the GBA (BBMP) has deployed earth movers to push water out of silk board junction, tractors and boats were used to ferry people in residential layouts to different areas for work , college and school purpose.
Niloufer a resident of Sai Layout highlighted that the flooding issue has been existing for more than a decade now. Speaking to South First, she expressed her dissatisfaction at the government and said, “They have called it Greater Bengaluru but it must be called water Bengaluru. During summer, neither the BBMP works to find a solution nor any other civic agency. They wake up only when it rains.”
Rescue operations underway. (Supplied)
She also highlighted how the rain water fails to flow out and enters back into Sai Layout due to smaller and narrow vent near Hennur railway station. She said, “Whenever we approach BBMP, they blame the central government because railway department is under them and they have to provide permission to make the vent bigger. Similarly, when we approach railway department officials, they blame it on BBMP.”
Niloufer’s house was flooded in the ground floor and they have been forced to move to first floor on Sunday night.
Biju Parel, another resident and social worker at Horamavu, has been looking into flooding issue for more than fifteen years in this area. Speaking to South First he said, “Floods are not new to this area. The storm water drain near Kalkere lake in this area is smaller than the usual size. It gets full during heavy rains.”
Reiterating Niloufer’s point, Biju Parel added, “Besides this, the vent close to Hennur railway station is also narrow. As a result, the water does not flow ahead. It returns back to Sai layout.”
Residents leaving the flooded areas. (Supplied)
He continued, “We have shifted twenty five construction workers who were living in sheds to safe places. Two families are given shelter at my home. Whatever is possible, we are doing. But the consecutive governments and administration has failed to find a permanent solution.”
Arpitha, Assistant Engineer, GBA Horamavu ward, who has been on ground since Monday morning said, “There is no way to get this water out. It has to subside itself. The water is coming in U shape with no way to flow out.”
Asked about the permanent solution to this issue, she said, “Our chief commissioner will take a call on that.”
Yunus Ali Kauser, deputy director, fire and emergency services department said that around 70 people have been deployed on field in Sai layout. He said, “We have rescued 400 individuals in this layout alone since Sunday night. Our boats are here to ferry people and announcements are made on the speaker for people to seek help. They can call up emergency number 112 and we will be sending officials to rescue them.”
Sai Layout has been flooded. (Supplied)
Amidst the havoc caused by heavy rains, Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka and district in charge minister, DK Shivakumar, took to X to ensure people that he would be taking stock of flooded areas on ground.
He wrote, “Deeply concerned by the havoc caused by relentless rains in Bengaluru. I’ve been in continuous touch with the concerned officers and I’m closely monitoring the situation.I will be visiting the BBMP War Room and flood-affected areas personally to take stock on ground.”
He also reminded people that these issues are not new and were ignore by previous governments and administrations. “Let us be clear: the issues we face today are not new. They have been ignored for years, across governments and administrations. The only difference now is – we are working to solve them. Not with temporary fixes, but with long-term, sustainable solutions,” he wrote.
He assured to resolve these issues with permanent solutions.
Deeply concerned by the havoc caused by relentless rains in Bengaluru.
I’ve been in continuous touch with the concerned officers and I’m closely monitoring the situation.As always, I remain committed to Bengaluru – working round the clock to address challenges and ensure…
— DK Shivakumar (@DKShivakumar) May 19, 2025
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre noted that orange alert has been issued with extremely heavy rainfall (>204.5mm) likely on 20 and 21 May.
#ಮಳೆ #ಮುನ್ನೆಚ್ಚರಿಕೆ: #Orange #ALERT (115.5mm – 204.5mm RF)#Red #ALERT (>204.5mm RF)@KarnatakaVarthe #KSNDMC #KarnatakaRains pic.twitter.com/d5UKVsNVje
— Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (@KarnatakaSNDMC) May 19, 2025
(Edited by Sumavarsha, with inputs from Rashmi Patil)
