Heavy rain lashes Bengaluru, leaves several parts flooded

New Delhi: Heavy rain was witnessed in parts of the country on Saturday leaving several areas of Bengaluru flooded.

However, the situation in deluge-hit Bihar and Assam continued to improve and no new deaths were reported in both the states.

In Karnataka, heavy downpour in the early hours led to flooding in several parts of Bengaluru.

Roads were inundated and water gushed into many houses in low-lying areas such as Koramangala, HSR Layout and Anugraha Layout. However, there was no loss of human lives, officials said.

The embankment of Begur lake was destroyed leading to flooding in areas downstream, officials said. Officials said the meteorology department recorded 35 mm rainfall in the city during the last 12 hours.

In Uttar Pradesh, no fresh flood-related death was reported, the flood control room located in the office of relief commissioner said.

So far, the state has witnessed 108 flood-related deaths, the flood control room said. Two persons have sustained injuries in flood, while three persons are said to be missing so far. The number of flood-affected districts is 24, officials said.

The flood situation in Bihar continued to show improvement with no fresh reports of any casualty from flooded areas of the state.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred at a few places in Bihar while heavy rainfall was reported from one or two places in south east parts of the state.

Bhagalpur registered 76.1 mm rainfall in past 24 hours (recorded between 8:30 am on Friday to 8:30 am on Saturday) followed by 4.9 mm in Purnea, 1.8 mm in Gaya and 0.2 mm in Patna during the same period, the Patna Meteorological Centre said.

With water receding in several places, people are returning to their homes. Around 10,743 people are still living in 35 relief camps, a Disaster Management department release said.

The death toll in this year's ravaging flood stands at 514, the release said.

More rainfall is in store for Odisha, which is already being pounded by downpour since Friday with the south-west monsoon being active in the state.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has said we cannot control nature but the situation in the city of Mumbai which has been facing floods during monsoons regularly has not improved in the past few years.

The remarks were made by a division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar while hearing a PIL by advocate Atal Bihari Dubey seeking a second doppler radar system to be set up in the city and other measures to be taken to ensure that people do not suffer due to floods.

"We cannot control nature. But this is not the first time this is happening in Mumbai. We have not moved an inch," Chief Justice Chellur said.

The PIL was filed a few years back and in 2016 the court was informed by the Maharashtra government and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) that a site was identified and sanctioned in suburban Goregaon to set up a doppler radar. Petitioner's counsel S C Naidu yesterday told the court that till date there has been no progress in the matter.

"The site has been sanctioned but at a premium rate due to which the matter has become stagnant," Naidu told the court.

He pointed out that this year too on August 29 Mumbai came to a standstill due to heavy rains. The court has now posted the petition for hearing on September 7.