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English daily published in Bengaluru & Doha
After a sizzling April, heavy rain cools Bengaluru, trees uprooted
By NT Correspondent
Bengaluru: Bengaluru residents got a respite from the sweltering heat of the past few days with heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstones lashing the city Sunday evening, uprooting trees and flooding streets in several parts.
Bruhata Bengaluru Mahnagara Palike (BBMP) officials said that they had received seven complaints of trees being uprooted in Koramangala, BTM Layout, Whitefield, Mico Layout, KG Road and other areas. There has been waterlogging near Jalahalli cross and Kuvempu Nagar but it appears to be just standing water and not overflowing water from a lake,” a BBMP official said.
Indian Meteorological Department(IMD) scientist A Prasad said they had forecast rain for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. He attributed the unusually heavy rains and heat wave to climate change. “Of course, it is because of climate change and global warming induced by human activity. The average temperature of the earth is 50 degree Celsius. Arctic glaciers are melting. Sea levels are increasing. Greenhouse gases have also gone up. Pollution has increased to crazy levels,” Prasad said.
The city has been spared the heat wave because of the altitude at which it is located, he said adding that April showers also helped steady the mercury.
Heavy rains, accompanied by thunderstorms, lashed the city on Sunday evening, uprooting trees and flooding streets in parts of the city.
Some parts of Bengaluru even received hail earlier in the day. Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials said that they had received seven complaints of trees being uprooted. “We have had complaints about trees being uprooted in Koramangala, BTM layout, Whitefield, Mico Layout, KG Road and other areas. We’ve received seven such complaints so far. Other issues include waterlogging near Jalahalli cross and Kuvempu Nagar. It appears to be just standing water and not overflowing from the lake,” a BBMP official said.
However, BBMP officials added that they hadn’t received any complaints of damaged vehicles and other property, as of 8:30 pm on Sunday.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier forecast rains. IMD scientist A Prasad said, “Our local forecast is usually for 48 hours. We had forecast rain for yesterday (Saturday), today (Sunday) and tomorrow (Monday),” he said. He added that occasional hail was not a matter of great concern. “Hailstorms are not frequent in India. Thunderstorms may happen. There is a certain phenomenon that produces hail during thunderstorms. Even rain doesn’t do as much damage. At most, it causes waterlogging and floods if it is heavy. Most damage is caused by winds that uproot trees, poles and other physical objects as well,” Prasad said.
Prasad added that there was no heat wave in Bengaluru because of the altitude at which it is located, adding that heavy rains in April helped bring down the temperature as well. “Heat waves happen when the temperature is three to four degrees above what we calculate to be normal. We have 15 years of data with the IMD, based on which we calculate these things. On plain land it is usually anything exceeding four or five degrees over 40 degrees. If it hits 45 degrees, we declare a heat wave without any caveats. Bengaluru happens to be 925 metres above sea-level. So it is cooler. The normal rainfall for Bengaluru in April is 41 mm, but this year, we received around 135 mm of rain. This brings down the temperature,” he said.
The IMD scientist added that unusually heavy rains and heat waves were explained by climate change. “Of course, it is because of climate change and global warming induced by human activity. Arctic glaciers are melting. Sea levels are increasing. Greenhouse gases have also gone up,” Prasad said.
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