It's raining woes for Bangalore

Bangalore: Bhargavi Ravichandra was on her feet all of Tuesday.

She and her family couldn't do any of their regular work because all she did the whole day was team up with her neighbours and clean her home, in upmarket Banashankari.

Incessant rain all Tuesday night ensured that the storm water drainage near her home overflowed and her house was under knee-deep water.

The monsoons did a disappearing act for a while and though its return in the last couple of days was earlier greeted with relief, the joy has turned sour now as the rains are causing waterlogging in Bangalore.

"Some heavy boulders crashed into the gate and water rushed into the house through doors and windows. There was no one to help at that time. Each and every house in this area and at least one house on every road has this problem. The corporation has to understand this," says Bhargavi.

The compound walls were broken due to the torrential rain and the cars and bikes of some of the residents had gone down the drain - literally.

The apartment block where Bhargavi lives is about two years old and houses nearly 150 people.

Most residents were counting their losses for the second year in a row even as they watched relief operations fish out 60 submerged vehicles.

In this block alone, the losses may run to the tune of Rs 1 crore.

Says another resident of Banashankari, R Narayanan, "Within five minutes of rain, two or three feet of water had collected in the area and we couldn't do anything about it. We could just stand and watch. Water was even about to enter the power control room of our block and we had to switch it off or else the transformer would have burst and there would have been no power."

Even though civic officials have been saying they are taking steps to prevent rain damage this year, clearly, none of it has helped, for the authorities start springing into action when its too late - when the monsoon has actually entered people's homes.