In a sudden shock to residents of Hulimavu area in Bengaluru, their streets and houses were inundated after a breach in the bund of Hulimavu lake on Sunday afternoon.
Vehicles were inundated by the flood and water entered several houses in Hulimavu Layout prompting personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to be pressed into service.
City Mayor M Gautham Kumar said that the breach occurred when someone used an earthmover near the bund to lay a pipe. This human negligence caused much hardship for many people in the area.
Speaking to TNM, Mithana, a resident of the area said, "The water began logging slowly at 1:30 pm but by 4:45 pm the water rose to a high level and rescue operations began. Most of the houses here are low-rises and this has affected around 300 residents."
By 6 pm in the evening, the lake water had entered commercial establishments in Vivekananda Road, flooding basements in the area.
Residents in the area reported that there was construction work taking place near the bund of the lake causing the breach and the subsequent flood. An official in the lakes department of the BBMP told TNM that the bund where construction work took place was the exit of Hulimavu lake.
A video tweeted by a Twitter used called Amal John clearly shows even vehicles partially submerged.
Two months ago, the BBMP had closed the exit of Hulimavu lake by constructing a bund. The sewage from Gottigere lake and the canal in Bannergahatta started flowing into Hulimavu lake and the lake was filled up due to recent rains in southern Bengaluru.
On Sunday, when the bund of the lake was tampered with, it was not closed properly, according to the official. This led to the sides of the bund crumbling and it was no longer able to withstand the water.
The official added that if rajakaluves were cleaned up, it would have been able to withstand the water coming from the lake but since it was not done, the lake water mixed with sewage water in the rajakaluves entered the streets.
Personnel of the NDRF assisted by local officials in Hulimavu managed to make a makeshift wall and stop the flow of water from the bund.
(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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