Water recedes in parts of India's Bengaluru after heavy rain wreaks havoc
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Water has started receding from several areas of Bengaluru, but residents and IT hubs continue to worry over the weather department's warnings of more rain.
Following two days of heavy rain that threw up scenes of flooded neighborhoods and boats rescuing residents, water levels dropped in several areas this morning. Traffic flow has now started returning to normal after waterlogged roads led to kilometers-long congestion.
However, residents are concerned about the forecasts of more rain. The weather department has predicted light to moderate rain in the city and said a downpour is "very likely".
Karnataka Minister CN Ashwathnarayan will meet representatives of several IT companies this afternoon to discuss problems they are facing due to unprecedented rains in the city.
The meeting will be attended by Chief Secretary Vandita Sharma, Chief Commissioner of Bengaluru civic body Tushar Giri Nath, officials of the city's water authority and Urban Development department, and the police commissioner CH Pratap Reddy.
Representatives of Infosys, Wipro, Nasscom, Goldman Sachs, Intel, Tata Consultancy Services, and Philips are among those who will attend the meeting, the minister told news agency ANI.
The waterlogging led to power cuts and disrupted water supplies in several areas of the city. Borewells are being used to fill the supply gap in affected areas. In other localities, tankers deployed by the state government are at work.
A 23-year-old woman died of electrocution during the waterlogging in the city. Akhila, who worked in a school's administration department, was returning home when her scooter skidded. She tried to grab an electric pole to avoid a fall and received an electric shock.
The waterlogging in the city, for the second time in a week, has put the spotlight back on unplanned urbanization and encroachment that have choked drainage points.
The government has now swung into action. Chief Minister Basavaraj S Bommai has said a sum of Rs 1,500 crore has been earmarked to drain water out of the city and another Rs 300 crore to remove the encroachment.
The Chief Minister has blamed the previous JDS-Congress government in the state for the situation. "This happened because of the unplanned administration of the previous Congress government. They gave permission right, left and centre in the lakes and buffer zone," he said.