Rain fury brings Bengaluru to its knees; 1 killed, 3 injured

BENGALURU: Commuters, waiting for a bus to reach home at Anepalya near Adugodi, were victims of a tragedy after an age-old peepal tree uprooted and fell on the bus shelter, killing one and injuring three others, following heavy rain that was accompanied by gusty wings on Friday evening.

Over 20 trees were  uprooted in other parts as winds, blowing at 36 kmph, lashed the city. Nearly 30 people were standing under the tree when it crashed at 5.40 pm. Officials from the fire force and BBMP forest wing rushed to the spot, lifted the big tree with the help of a crane before pulling out the body of the deceased and rescuing those trapped under it. The body of the deceased was shifted to St John’s Hospital. Five others were hospitalised.

Three of the injured, Fakeerappa (45) of Kudlugate, Prakash D’Souza (29) from Electronics City, and Praveen Kumar (35) from Begur have been admitted to St John’s Hospital, while Sharath (27) from New Thippasandra and Sheila Joy (33) from Koramangala, have been admitted to St Philomena’s Hospital. Traffic on busy Hosur-Lashkar Road came to a standstill for over one hour.  Control rooms at BBMP, traffic police and Bescom were flooded with complaints.

Bengaluru district in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy told Deccan Chronicle that the BBMP forest wing and fire force personnel have been told to clear the trees quickly. “I have directed BBMP administrator T.M. Vijay Bhaskar to announce a compensation of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the deceased, and to bear the treatment cost of those injured.”  

A car was damaged when a tree fell on it at Cubbon Park as heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds lashed the city on Friday (Photo: DC)

Over 20 trees crashed across the city, damaging two cars and over 10 two wheelers. Traffic was affected in the Central Business District and other areas. Trees fell in Wilson Garden, Rajajinagar, Malleswaram, Jayanagar, Shantinagar, Lalbagh, Anepalya, Residency Road and Adugodi.

A car was crushed under a tree near Bengaluru Press Club at Cubbon Park. Several houses were flooded in MEI Layout and Chikkasandra at Dasarahalli. Many underpasses were flooded as the authorities failed to clear shoulder drains. Knee deep water at Kogilu flyover affected the movement of traffic.

‘Wind share zone’ causing showers

Weather experts claim that an unusual phenomenon, termed as ‘wind share zone’, was reason behind rainfall, accompanied with strong winds, in the city for the last two nights.
On Friday, the wind speed in city reached 36 kmph, bringing down trees and other structures. The city received close to 19 mm of rainfall in just three hours on Friday evening.

The officials at the Indian Meteorological Department explained that the ‘wind share zone’ is created when the wind waves from two directions, east and west in the present case, collide head on. It creates a favourable condition for the precipitation and the local weather factors such as higher humidity levels helps in higher precipitation and wind speed.