Bengaluru, 19 May

A 35-year-old woman, Shashikala, lost her life on Thursday after a compound wall collapsed on her in the Mahadevapura area of Bengaluru. The incident took place at the premises of i-Zed company in Channasandra, where she worked as a housekeeper.

Authorities suspect that heavy overnight rainfall may have weakened the structure, leading to the collapse. Shashikala died on the spot.

Heavy overnight rains severely affected parts of the city on Monday, leading to water-logged roads, inundated residential areas, and traffic pile-up, as the city braces for more spells in the coming days.

Bengaluru received 103 mm of rain in the last 24 hours, according to an IMD bulletin.

The social media was flooded with videos of waterlogged roads from various parts of the IT capital, highlighting how the city collapses when there is rain.

According to Home Minister G Parameshwara, for the last three days, Bengaluru has witnessed heavy rains.

"During pre-monsoon, we usually see flooding and inundation. BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike ) has been on the job of clearing waterlogging and uprooted trees and branches from roads. Authorities are on the job," he said.

A picture captured by Bengaluru Corporate Club's official 'X' handle shows a chock-a-block Silk Board -- one of the infamous bottlenecks that slow down traffic in the city -- at 7.20am, the supposedly non-peak hour, on Monday.

PTI Videos reported that the traffic jam at Silk Board stretched for nearly 10 km.

This pre-monsoon season, according to hobby weather watchers of the city, Bengaluru has been witnessing 15 to 20 cm of rainfall for the last couple of days.

Most of them have advocated for work from home, as city roads make commuting almost impossible as well as dangerous, especially with the flooding of underpasses at several places.

One of the worst rain-affected areas in Bengaluru so far was Sai Layout in Horamavu, which falls in the Mahadevapura zone. Earlier, pre-monsoon rain submerged the layout with 4-5ft of water, leaving streets flooded to knee level.

According to some news reports, the residents have blamed clogged drains and claimed that despite repeated complaints to the authorities, they were not cleaned.

Water entered homes in NC Colony on Tannery Road as well.

Although no injuries have been reported, a tree that was uprooted in the heavy rains in Jayanagar fell on a parked car and a jeep, damaging them. East End Road towards Mount Carmel School Road was also temporarily closed as a tree fell on the stretch.

Waterlogged roads in different parts of the city had made commuting a nightmare for people.

Despite constant traffic alerts by the traffic police about slow-moving traffic in several places, people pushing their stuck cars in knee-deep water could be spotted at places like Panathur S Cross, upper ramp of Domlur flyover and Koramangala, which are prone to waterlogging. Traffic was also slow near Manyata Tech Park.

Meanwhile, the yellow alert issued on May 18 to some regions in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, remains valid for Monday and Tuesday as well, said India Meteorological Department's Bengaluru centre Director N Puviarasu.

Speaking to PTI, he said the department is studying the current pattern of the air circulation and will later issue a weather update.

"As per the current pattern of the cyclonic circulation, Karnataka, especially the coastal parts will get heavy rainfall. Bengaluru is also expected to receive heavy rainfall for the next two days," he said.

A Yellow alert could possibly result in temporary disruption of electricity in some areas, minor traffic snarls and possible uprooting of weak trees and branches, warned IMD.

On Sunday, IMD had issued a yellow alert for heavy rainfall across 23 districts in Karnataka, including Bengaluru, till Thursday.

The alert warned of moderate to heavy thundershowers, lightning, and gusty winds reaching speeds of 50 - 60 km/h. Widespread rainfall and thunderstorms are expected throughout the week.

The affected districts include Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapura, Tumakuru, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Kodagu, Belagavi, Bidar, Raichur, Yadgir, Davanagere, and Chitradurga.

As per the alert issued by IMD on Monday morning, inclement weather is being driven by an upper-air cyclonic circulation over the Southeast Bay of Bengal and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, along with a trough extending from Telangana to North Tamil Nadu, which is pulling in significant moisture and intensifying rainfall across southern India.

Several parts of Karnataka have also been receiving good rainfall, especially the Malenadu region and coastal Karnataka.