Downpour disrupts Bengaluru life, damages Infosys campus wall

Bengaluru, Sep 10 (IANS) A downpour in Bengaluru disrupted normal life for several hours and a portion of a campus wall of software major Infosys collapsed in the early hours of the day, an official said on Sunday.

Local Met Office said the city received a record 70mm rainfall that was accompanied by squally winds in the last 12 hours. Low-lying areas were inundated and trees and electricity poles were uprooted in the southern suburbs.

"Heavy rain began after midnight and continued till the early hours, flooding several areas in Bommasandra and Anekal towards Hosur across the inter-state border, and Kengeri and Nayandanahalli towards Mysuru," a civic body official told IANS.

An Infosys spokesperson said that the peripheral wall collapse was reported from near Gate number 6 of the IT major's sprawling green campus in the posh Electronics City on the southern outskirts of this tech hub, 25 km from the city centre.

"No one was injured and no flooding was reported from the campus," the company official said.

As storm-water drains were choked with silt, filth and garbage, rainwater overflowed from streams and canals, flooding the Bengaluru-Mysuru state highway and disrupting vehicular traffic for hours.

Similarly, the Bengaluru-Chennai National Highway off the Electronic City was flooded due to clogged sewerage and encroachment of storm-water drains.

Though a couple of old houses and buildings collapsed in some parts of the city, no injuries or casualties were reported a day after the rain havoc on Friday night claimed four lives, including that of a couple and a teenager.

Hundreds of people in low-lying areas were the worst affected as rainwater and sewage flooded their localities and houses.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike had set up 21 special teams to clear roads of fallen trees, electricity poles and to repair snapped power lines.

The Met Office has predicted moderate to heavy rain in and around the city on Sunday and Monday as the south-west monsoon remains active across the southern state.