Andhra woman dies after car gets flooded in underpass; sudden deluge engulfs Bengaluru

BENGALURU: A 22-year woman from Andhra Pradesh, who had come to Bengaluru on a visit with her family, died after she got trapped inside her car due to the heavy downpour at K R Circle in the city on Sunday.

The deceased woman has been identified as Bhanurekha, an employee with Infosys. She hailed from Telaprolu village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

She visited many places with her family members including the Bangalore Palace, Lalbagh, Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha in their car on Sunday. After the sudden downpour, theK R Circle underpass was flooded and not realising, she drove the car towards the underpass and the car got stuck there.

In panic, Bhanurekha opened the car window in an attempt to get out, but the flood water gushed into the car. Bhanurekha took in water and fell unconscious. Rescue teams rushed to the site and helped them out. She was immediately admitted to a hospital by the other family members, but did not respond to treatment. The family members alleged that the doctors did not attend to her properly and that she died without proper treatment.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah visited the family at St Martha’s hospital and consoled them. He also announced relief of Rs 5 lakh for the family and added that the government will bear the treatment cost of the others who fell ill.

https://twitter.com/CMofKarnataka/status/1660266705476784128?s=20

After a hot spell, the city on Sunday witnessed heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorm. Many roads were flooded and commuters had a harrowing time due to traffic blocks across the city.

By late afternoon, almost the entire city turned cloudy and dark. The heavy rain that followed uprooted several trees and poles. An metal sheet compound erected at a construction site near Windsor Manor Circle also collapsed. The iron rods had come loose due to the strong wind. A huge tree branch also fell on electric poles at the same place.

The road from Chalukya Circle to Hebbal was completely blocked as the road near Balabrooie Guest House was flooded. A tree was uprooted due to rain on Road in Basavanagudi near the Bangaluru High School bus stop but, fortunately, there was no injuries as the number of vehicles was less.

Yeswantpur bus stand is completely filled with rain water.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also directed the authorities to clear the drains at underpasses which get flooded. Due to accumulation of silt in the drains and resultant stagnation of water, the underpasses are getting flooded leading to accidents, he noted in another tweet.

ಅಂಡರ್ ಪಾಸ್ ಗಳಿಂದ ನೀರು ಹೊರಹೋಗುವ ಚರಂಡಿಗಳು ಹೂಳು ತುಂಬಿರುವುದರಿಂದ ಏಕಾಏಕಿ ಮಳೆ ಸುರಿದಾಗ ನೀರು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಗೊಂಡು ಇಂಥ ಅವಘಡಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ನಗರದಲ್ಲಿ ಮಳೆ ನೀರು ಸಂಗ್ರಹಗೊಳ್ಳುವ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಅಂಡರ್ ಪಾಸ್ ಗಳನ್ನು ಗುರುತಿಸಿ ಸರಿಪಡಿಸಲಾಗುವುದು ಹಾಗೂ ಕಾಲುವೆ ಒತ್ತುವರಿಯನ್ನು ತೆರವು ಮಾಡಿ ನೀರಿನ ಸರಾಗ ಹರಿವಿಗೆ ಅನುಕೂಲ… pic.twitter.com/aCdXaJNcv5

— CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) May 21, 2023