A fierce rainstorm on Sunday night brought Bengaluru to its knees yet again, with the Horamavu locality hit the hardest. On Monday morning, emergency teams deployed boats to access inundated neighbourhoods — a startling scene that captured the city’s chronic struggle with flood preparedness.

In Sai Layout, Vidyaranyapura, water levels surged past knee height outside homes. Residents, many of whom had long urged for better drainage and road works, found themselves stranded — their appeals once again lost in bureaucracy.

The city’s infamous Panathur railway underbridge turned into a pool, and stretches like New BEL Road, Nagawara, and Silk Board junction witnessed paralyzed traffic. The Outer Ring Road, Bengaluru’s tech corridor, saw office-goers wading through waist-high water.

But perhaps the most dramatic images came from Manyata Tech Park, which resembled a flooded basin. Two feet of stagnant water blocked entry points, forcing management to coordinate dewatering efforts with civic officials.

Social media exploded with sarcasm and fury. One post read, “Bengaluru Ports are thriving! Thanks to rains, we now have ferry services. Coming soon: underwater metro!” Another cried, “Fire brigade unresponsive, no relief, no accountability. BBMP still digging stormwater drains after years!”

The Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre confirmed the deluge as one of the heaviest May rainfalls in decades, logging 132 mm in Bengaluru Urban and 119 mm in Bengaluru North.

As rescue boats cruise city lanes, so do questions about governance and infrastructure planning.