Over 27 electricity supply poles and as many as 25 trees were uprooted in Koramangala alone in the Thursday’s evening downpour. Worst affected were 3rd Block, 4th Block, 6th Block, parts of 5th Block,1st Block and 8th Block. Officials and other personnel from various departments like BESCOM, Fire Fighting Service, BBMP, BBMP Forest Cell, Adugodi Traffic Police, resident-volunteers and others continuously and tirelessly worked for over 36 hours to restore power supply in Koramangala. Dozens of vehicles have been damaged in the incident, but no loss of life or injury has been reported. Elsewhere in South Bengaluru over 300 trees have been uprooted. Many parts of Jayanagar, Wilson Garden reeled under darkness.
Still parts of Koramangala where row of the electricity poles have been damaged are yet to get power supply.
BESCOM had promised to restore by Saturday evening. The residents and various RWAs have thanked all those who worked tirelessly to restore power in the area especially BESCOM, fire service department, BBMP and Adugodi Traffic Police.
The Thursday’s storm that lashed the city paralysed power supply in South Bengaluru, leaving scores of citizens across the Koramangala and adjoining areas sleepless for most part of the night.
Heavy gusts of wind accompanying the thunderstorms uprooted several trees, knocked down electricity poles, and played havoc with the power infrastructure. Almost all areas of Koramangala and adjoining layouts suffered outages, while for a few, the ordeal continued till Saturday evening.
One car in front of Barbeque Nation in 1st Block was damaged when a tree feel on it. Similarly several vehicles were damaged near BDA complex when a tree fell on them. So also a Active Honda was damaged on Devi Eye Hospital road in 6th Block. Elsewhere in Koramangala a Maruti Omni and another car and some bikes were reported damaged due to rain and tree fall. The residents and various RWAs have thanked all those who worked tirelessly to restore power in the area especially BESCOM, fire service department, BBMP and Adugodi Traffic.
The helplines of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the BESCOM were flooded with calls reporting tree/ electricity supply pole uprooting, especially in south Bengaluru.
On Friday morning, Koramangala looked like as if ‘wild elephants going on a rampage’ with trees/ branches fallen/strewn across the streets, smashed electricity supply poles, shattered streetlights, damaged vehicles etc. Also one could see many uprooted trees and electricity supply poles dangerously hanging with the support of other roadside trees and dangling in the middle of the road espcially on Canara Bank Road near Filling Station and another near Nandini Milk Parlour on 8th Main Road of 4th Block. With few BESCOM staff in Koramangala Sub-division it was a herculean task to restore power supply. Hence, the Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy took initiative and sought the help of Fire Fighting Service Department. H S Revanna – Deputy Inspector General of Police, Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services sent in two teams of eight to nine personnel led by Shivanne Gowda, Deputy Fire Officer who worked tirelessly and assisted the BESCOM to restore power supply in Koramangala by Friday evening. It took almost 36 hours to restore power supply, but still some pockets do not have power suppy were a serial of electricity poles have been uprooted.
BESCOM team was led by Executive Engineer Shantha Mallappa, Assistant Executive Engineer Manoj Kumar, Assistant Engineer Somashekar, Rohit and team. Adugodi Traffic Lokesh and team, BBMP Forest Cell Sheshadri, BBMP AEE incharge Mubashir, JE Siddaramaiah and team assisted in the two-day operation.
