Bangalore: Heavy rains brought life to a standstill in many parts of the city affecting traffic and leaving a trail of mess.

What started as a light drizzle around 6 p.m. brought Bangalore to its knees within a couple of hours and turned out to be the heaviest rainfall the city received in a single day in September in 26 years. The city received 130 mm of rain (recorded until 11.30 pm). The all-time record for the heaviest rainfall in September is 177 mm recorded on 12 September 1988.

“Depression in the Bay of Bengal and formation of thick cloud owing to the southwest retreating monsoon triggered the downpour across the city and neighbourhood,” a senior weather official told media.

For many residents, Thursday evening turned out to be a nightmare. While utensils and books were seen floating, most of them lost electronic goods. The heavy downpour lasted for hours, uprooting trees, and inundating low-laying areas in many suburbs. Many had to take refuge on first floors to save themselves from the knee high water.

Anepalya resident Sardar Pasha told Nasheman, “there is no power in our house, our utensils are floating and we do not know what to do. The officials have done nothing, despite us complaining.”

Besides Anepalya, several low-lying areas in Byatarayanapura, Banashankari, K.S. Layout, Wilson Garden, J.P. Nagar, Kumaraswamy Layout, Koramangala, Adugodi, Ashok Nagar, Old Airport Road, K.R. Puram, Mahadevapura, Hebbal, Peenya, Malleswaram, Majestic and Chamarajpet were flooded.

Nasheman’s correspondent Faizan Rizwan too was stuck in the rain, with his vehicle half drowned in the clogged passage near Frazer Town.

With more rain predicted till the weekend, the state government has directed the civic body to unclog the outdated sewage system and remove debris from storm-water drainages to prevent flood like situation in the city.

Photos by Faizan Rizwan