On May 6, in the evening, numerous areas of the city saw intense rain, thunderstorms, and strong gusts that caused trees to topple and waterlogging.
Yellow signals for thunderstorms have been issued for Bengaluru Rural and Urban, Chamarajanagara, Chikkaballapura, Kolar, Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara, and Tumakuru districts, according to the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Centre (KSNDC).
“Rains have caused heavy waterlogging at 33 spots and tree falls at 16 locations today, resulting in traffic jams in various areas,” stated MN Anucheth, the joint commissioner of police for traffic in Bengaluru. The traffic police are working nonstop to create temporary detours in an effort to lessen gridlock. We ask for the public’s assistance.”
The owner of Kempegowda International Airport, Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), reported that bad weather on Monday night caused seven planes to be rerouted from Bengaluru. Six planes to Chennai and one to Coimbatore were among the diversions. Of these, one each was operated by Akasa Air, Vistara, Alliance Air, and AirAsia India, while four were owned by IndiGo.
Waterlogging caused slow-moving traffic at several locations, including the Hebbal flyover towards the airport and Veerannapalya, Summanahalli, Maharani underpass, Vaddarapalya signal, Summanahalli, Nagawara, Hebbal railway station, and Kamakshipalya. This affected vehicular movement in many areas.
There have been reports of tree-falling accidents in several localities affecting traffic flow, including the Kathriguppe signal, Lingarajapuram Main Road, Mehkri Circle, Jayamahal Road, Gundu Rao Circle, Gangamma Circle, PES college near Devegowda Circle, Hennur Main Road, and Malleshwaram. An further source of interruption occurred on Hennur Main Road when an electric pole broke. Waterlogging caused the underpass near Kalpana Junction (Cunningham Road) that connected to Sankey Road to be closed.
There have been reports of severe flooding close to Windsor Manor Bridge, highlighting Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s (BBMP) inadequate monsoon planning. According to BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath, the desilting process will be finished by May 20. According to him, 75% of the 359 km stormwater drainage system’s cleaning has been done as of May 3. The remaining work is anticipated to be concluded in a week.
Hailstorms were observed across the southwest region of Bengaluru city, while parts of the north, southeast, east, and central regions experienced strong showers, according to Karnataka Weather, a private weather blogger. Because of the strong thunderstorms and gusting winds, residents were advised to stay inside and avoid making needless travel plans.
Up until May 12, the Meteorological Department predicted partly overcast conditions with sporadic showers or thunderstorms.
Traffic was heavy in the vicinity of Majestic as many people traveled to vote on May 7 in their hometowns in North Karnataka.
