Heavy rains lash Bangalore; one killed as tree falls

BANGALORE - Heavy rains lashed this garden city of Karnataka for over two hours Saturday afternoon and claimed the life of an autorickshaw driver whose vehicle came under a huge tree that was uprooted in the downpour, a police official said.

“The victim, Srinivas, 40, died instantaneously when the tree trunk came crashing down on his autorickshaw near Richmond Park in Shantinagar due to heavy winds and rain,” Ashok Nagar police Inspector N. Radhakrishna told IANS.

The incident took place when Srinivas was driving through the rain without a passenger.

According to initial estimates by a met official, the city received about 50 mm rain during the two-hour spell.

“Though we recorded 14 mm rainfall till 2.30 p.m., we estimate the heavy spell would have resulted in 50 mm rain by 4.30 p.m., when it subsided,” the official said.

Admitting it was the season’s heaviest spell of rain in the city, the official said with the southwest monsoon remaining active, rain and thundershowers were expected to continue for a few more weeks.

“Rainfall has been below normal this season beginning June 1 with the city recording only 226 mm unlike last year when it was more than the average. We expect more rains to make up for the shortfall over next two weeks,” the official pointed out.

After the downpour, thoroughfares and roads were choc-a-bloc with stranded vehicles struggling to move ahead even as rain water inundated several low-laying areas and overflowing drains flooded localities.

“Being a Saturday and the rain coming a day after the Varalakshmi fest Friday, the traffic is manageable as the revived IT industry and its employees do not work on weekends, giving us a breather,” Radhakrishna added.