Mangaluru: After a brief lull over the past two days, heavy rains resumed across Dakshina Kannada district on Saturday, with uninterrupted downpour for over two hours from around noon, leading to waterlogging in many parts of Mangaluru. Several houses were flooded, and traffic movement was severely disrupted on major roads, throwing normal life out of gear.
Due to continuous rain from 3 PM onwards, several low-lying areas in the city, including Pumpwell Circle, Padil railway underpass, Mangaluru Central railway station, Mahamaya Temple Road in Car Street, Mishaal Nursing Home, Jyothi, PVS, Yekkur, and Jeppinamogaru were inundated.
The heavy waterlogging around Pumpwell Circle caused traffic snarls for hours as vehicles coming from Nanthoor, Padil, Ullal, Hampankatta and other areas were caught in gridlocks. At Pumpwell, several vehicles including cars and auto-rickshaws were stuck in water, unable to move forward.
Complete halt to traffic: Vehicle movement came to a standstill near Pumpwell Circle for more than one and a half hours due to the heavy downpour. Scenes of people pushing stranded vehicles, including buses, to the roadside were witnessed. There was traffic congestion stretching for several kilometers for over four hours.
Meanwhile, the stormwater drains (rajakaluves) in Yekkur and Jeppinamogaru overflowed. The retaining wall of the drain near Yekkur collapsed, flooding surrounding areas and creating panic among the residents. Streets were filled with flowing water, causing great inconvenience to motorists.
What kind of Smart City is this? Whenever there is heavy rain for even a couple of hours, Pumpwell gets flooded, storm drains overflow, and artificial flooding brings water into houses — prompting the public to sarcastically question, “Is this a Smart City?” Every year during monsoon, people at Pumpwell Circle suffer, often cursing the engineers who designed the junction.
Any traffic congestion at Pumpwell has a cascading effect on traffic coming into the city from various directions and going out to other parts.
Heaps of plastic in storm drains: Along with overflowing stormwater drains, huge quantities of plastic waste were seen floating in the water. Large numbers of plastic bottles were spotted flowing through the drain from Yekkur to Jeppinamogaru and finally reaching the sea via the Nethravathi River.
Artificial flood: In the Kodyalguttu Road area, artificial flooding prompted the fire and emergency services to deploy boats to rescue local residents.
Near the MESCOM office in Attavar, the collapse of a compound wall caused rainwater to flow into the drainage, leading to artificial flooding in the area.