Karnataka to have heavy rains over next two days

Bengaluru, Sep 4 (IANS) Heavy rains that have been lashing Bengaluru and other regions of Karnataka for the past few weeks are likely to continue over the next two days, weather officials said here on Monday.

According to the district weather warning issued by the India Meteorological Department, Bengaluru and interior districts of the state are likely to receive "heavy rains" till September 6.

"The city received a maximum rainfall of 122.5 mm as of Monday morning," an official from the Karnataka State Disaster Monitoring Centre told IANS here.

"The rains will continue for the next few days," the official added.

Bengaluru's usual traffic woes were further worsened as rainwater flooded the city's arterial roads on Monday.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike on Sunday announced an action plan for storm-water drainage system in the city, which will incur an expenditure of Rs 300 crore.

The plan included procurement of a robotic excavator for cleaning storm-water drains and clearing flood waters, and taking other measures for securing vulnerable locations in the city from inundation.

Owing to continuing rains for the past few weeks, several parts of the state have been facing waterlogging.

At the same time, the state government has been continuing with its cloud-seeding experiment Project Varshadhari, in a bid to compensate for the lack of normal monsoon in the state.