Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar attended a virtual meeting in the BBMP war room with officials to take stock of the flood situation.
Published May 20, 2025 | 9:31 AM ⚊ Updated May 20, 2025 | 9:46 AM
CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar attended a virtual meeting in the BBMP war room to take stock of the flood situation.
Synopsis: A 63-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy died of electrocution in Bengaluru. Several areas in the city, including Silk Board junction, BTM Layout, Sai Layout, HBR Layout and others, were flooded with water.
Following heavy rains that lashed parts of Bengaluru and crippling the city, a 63-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy died of electrocution on the evening of Monday, 19 May. The incident was reported at Madhuvan Apartments in BTM 2nd stage in the city.
The deceased, identified as Manmohan Kamath (63) and Dinesh (12), were trying to take out water from the basement of the apartment after water started logging due to heavy rain.
In another case, a 33-year-old woman was killed in a wall collapse in Whitefield on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the Bengaluru City Traffic Police said on Tuesday that due to heavy waterlogging, Hosur Road is temporarily closed between Silkboard and Rupena Agrahara.
“The elevated flyover is also closed. Commuters are advised to use an alternate road. Commuters are advised to avoid Hosur Road completely,” they said in a post on X.
According to the police, Manmohan was using an external motor to drain water, and he got electrocuted due to a short circuit. Dinesh was also standing in the same basement and got electrocuted.
Several areas, including Silk Board junction, BTM Layout, Sai Layout, HBR Layout and others, were flooded with water. Since Sunday, rain has given no respite to people in Bengaluru.
On Monday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar attended a virtual meeting in the BBMP war room with officials to take stock of the flood situation. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar attended a virtual meeting in the BBMP war room with officials to take stock of the flood situation. Shivakumar also visited the Silk Board junction.
“Most of the rajacaluvey or stormwater drains have been encroached upon in the city. Besides, some are smaller than the designated measurement. Desilting work is not done properly. Time and again, I have told BBMP officials to clear encroachments on rajacaluvey. Bengaluru has over 859.90 kilometres of rajacaluvey. So far, we have constructed walls for rajacaluveys measuring up to 491 km. Wall construction is going on for rajacaluveys, measuring up to 195 km. We have taken a loan from the World Bank to construct walls for the rajacaluveys of 173 km. The work on Rajacaluvey is currently in progress. Without completing these works, it is impossible to stop flooding in different locations,” Siddaramaiah said.
“There are over 4,292 encroachments, out of which 2,326 encroachments have been cleared. There will be no partiality, whether it is poor or rich, or a political leader, in case of clearing encroachments if the properties are built on rajacaluveys.”
Regarding the low-lying regions in Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said, “We have identified over 210 low-lying areas which are categorised into vulnerable and most vulnerable areas. Various civic works are being taken up to stop flooding permanently in 166 low-lying regions. And temporary solutions have been taken up now in 44 low-lying regions. At present, civic works are taken up to stop flooding permanently in 24 regions out of these 44 regions.”
Siddaramaiah also said that he rushed to the BBMP war room rather than the spots to avoid more traffic congestion and trouble for people. “It would become dark after 6 pm. We will neither be able to meet nor hear their problems properly amid this rain. However, we have planned for city rounds on Wednesday along with all MLAs and ministers,” he added.
He has confirmed providing ₹5 lakh compensation for a woman working in a private company who was killed after a wall collapsed due to heavy rains in Whitefield.
Meanwhile, Shivakumar said the government was prepared in advance to avoid the disasters caused by rainwater.
“We have solved the problems in 70 percent of these areas. Work is already underway to construct a 197 km long stormwater drain across the entire city of Bengaluru. After I took charge of Bengaluru, 210 low-lying areas that were facing problems due to rainwater were identified. Problems in 166 areas have been resolved. Work is pending in 44 areas, out of which work is underway in 24 areas. The traffic police have also identified 132 areas that flood during rain. Of these, we have resolved the problems in 82 areas by the end of April. 41 works are pending. ₹2,000 crore is being spent on rainwater drainage,” he said.
He also agreed that several parts, including Silk Board, Horamavu, Hebbal and Yelahanka, have received a lot of rain and got inundated. “Railway underpass work is going on in a couple of places here. Due to this, water is stagnating and causing a lot of trouble. We will coordinate with the departments concerned and work on it,” he said.
When asked about the encroachment on Manyata Tech Park that also witnessed floods on Sunday and Monday, he said, “Some people have brought a stay order in the court regarding this issue. We have also warned the Disaster Management Centre. Now the waterlogging issue is being addressed there.”
The police on Tuesday issued an alert highlighting rainwater clogging in the railway underpass, causing slow traffic, on the road from Vijinapur-FCI Godown towards Benniganahalli Metro.
There is also slow-moving traffic due to waterlogging in several areas, including 14th main Service Road towards 5th Main, Kasthuri Nagar towards Ramamurthy Nagar, Balekundri Junction towards Queens Road and CQAL Cross RT Nagar towards Mekhri Circle.
Similarly, due to ongoing metro work on ORR (outer ring road) opposite Marathahalli Police Station, traffic movement is very slow from Kadubeesanahalli towards Karthik Nagar and Marathahalli towards Kadubeesanahalli.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil with inputs from Rashmi Patil.)
