Overnight heavy rain on Sunday claimed the lives of three people in Bengaluru. The downpour sparked civic chaos and a political blame game over the city’s poor infrastructure.
Three people, including a nine-year-old boy, were killed in rain-related incidents on Monday as extremely heavy overnight rain brought Bengaluru to its knees on Monday.
Shashikala, an employee of a private company, succumbed to injuries after a wet compound wall suddenly collapsed on her in Whitefield on Monday morning. She was walking towards Channasandra when the wall gave way and fell on her, resulting in her death.
Later, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh from the government for Shashikala’s family.
In another incident, two persons, including a young boy, were electrocuted at BTM Layout in the city on Monday evening.
The deceased were identified as 55-year-old Manohar Kamat and nine-year-old Dinesh, a native of Nepal. According to police, both were electrocuted while attempting to pump rainwater out of the apartment’s basement using a motor.
#WATCH | Karnataka | Rainwater enters houses in following heavy rainfall in Bengaluru, streets waterlogged
Visuals from BTM Layout pic.twitter.com/vrYWKLsAtU
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2025
With the heavy downpour, locals were seen through water, and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel, who launched evacuation efforts, also faced challenges due to a shortage of boats.
A video from the Silk Board Metro Station showed heavy waterlogging after hours of downpour in the city.
#WATCH | Bengaluru, Karnataka: Several parts of the city witness waterlogging after heavy rains.
(Visuals from Silk Board Metro Station) pic.twitter.com/ji5gjGygCr
— ANI (@ANI) May 19, 2025
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, Bengaluru city received 105.5 mm of rainfall during the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on May 19. The last time it rained this heavily during this month was on May 18, 2022.
Incidentally, the all-time record for May stands at 153.9 mm, which was set on May 6, 1909.
RAIN ALERT IN KARNATAKA
The weather department issued a red alert for Coastal Karnataka, North Interior Karnataka and South Interior Karnataka for May 20 and 21.
A yellow alert for heavy rain was sounded in Bengaluru and other districts, including Bagalkot, Belagavi, Koppal, and others, until 10 am.
BENGALURU RAIN TRIGGERS POLITICAL BLAME GAME
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) mounted an offensive against the ruling Congress, alleging that the crores of rupees spent over the last two years on the city’s infrastructure have yielded no results.