Bengaluru was struck by a severe downpour, with 130mm of rain causing widespread flooding and claiming three lives. Hundreds of homes were inundated, and the city’s infrastructure struggled to cope, leading to traffic disruptions and rescue operations.

BENGALURU: A sudden deluge battered Bengaluru with 130mm rain in just 12 hours on Monday, leaving three people dead, hundreds of homes inundated, and large parts of the city paralysed.Among the victims were 63-year-old Manmohan Kamath and 12-year-old Dinesh, son of a security guard, who were electrocuted while trying to pump water out of a flooded basement at Madhuvana Apartment in Dollars Colony, BTM Layout 2nd Stage. “Kamath, who stayed on the first floor, procured a motor to pump out the water. Around the same time, guard Bharath’s son Dinesh came out to assist Kamath. When the motor was plugged in, both were electrocuted. Other residents rushed them to hospital, but it was too late,” police said. Dinesh had come to Bengaluru from Nepal along with his parents three months ago.In a separate incident in Whitefield, 32-year-old housekeeping staffer Shashikala D died after the compound wall of her office building collapsed. Chief minister Siddaramaiah has announced Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia for her family.Bengaluru’s infrastructure, already stretched, buckled under the strain. Nearly 500 homes were flooded across Mahadevapura, RR Nagar, Kengeri and Koramangala. At least 20 of 29 lakes in Yelahanka breached their banks, flooding adjacent areas. The State Disaster Response Force had to deploy boats for rescue in several localities including Sai Layout, Marathahalli, and Iblur Junction.Public transport was severely disrupted. The BMTC depot at Shantinagar remained under water, and buses could not be operated for hours. Parts of the Outer Ring Road, Electronics City expressway and underpasses across the city were shut. The Central Silk Board junction and major arteries like Richmond Road and Double Road turned into water channels.The rainfall far exceeded Bengaluru’s drainage capacity, which is designed to handle 70mm at most. Kengeri recorded 132mm, while other hotspots like Chikkabanavara, Chowdeshwarinagar, and Kempegowda ward received over 100mm.BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Girinath described it as the second-highest single-day rainfall in a decade. “Sometimes, things get out of hand. We are working on it,” he said. BBMP engineer-in-chief Prahalad BS blamed outdated stormwater drains and haphazard urbanisation. “Our systems were built for another era. Climate change has accelerated everything—we now need to measure rain in mm per minute,” he said.In Mahadevapura alone, over 10 locations were waterlogged. Authorities used tractors, JCBs, fire engines and boats to deliver essentials and evacuate people. Meanwhile, the Central Crime Branch office also suffered flooding, damaging documents stored on the ground floor.Despite the chaos, tech companies have not declared work-from-home but are monitoring the situation closely.The IMD has forecast more heavy rain over the next five days.