Bengaluru: A woman spent nearly 7 hours on a tractor to save her life on the night of August 14 to escape from the nature’s fury when torrential rains inundated low lying areas of Bengaluru.
Chithra, a resident of S T Bed layout in Koramanagala spent the night along with few other women from the locality on a tractor.
Narrating the experience, Chithra said, “It was a real nightmare. After dinner we had slept off and all of a sudden water started entering low lying areas during heavy down pour. During the wee hours, the intensity increased and we were forced out of our homes to find places to save ourselves from nature’s fury. Some climbed trees, some others compound walls whereas I found a tractor parked on the wayside. My son dragged me out of home as the water levels started increasing and almost touched 5 feet. Few women joined me and we spent nearly 7 hours on the tractor, till water levels receded.”
This is not the first experience in the last 20 years, Chithra said and added, “On several previous occasions, we countered similar problems, except that the magnitude of the problem was greater this time.”
”The corporation and government officials concerned visit the affected areas to assess the situation and never turn back again”, another woman Alamelamma lamented, supporting her neighbour. They carryout minor works to diffuse the situation but in reality nothing has changed drastically over the years, she said.
It may be recalled that Bengaluru city recorded the highest rainfall since 1890 on Tuesday night inundating all low lying areas surrounding Koramanagala area. The heavy rain wreaked havoc across the city, crippling normal life, flooding roads and houses in many localities and dampened the 71st Independence Day celebrations in the state capital. NDRF boats were pressed into service to rescue people from drowning in few places. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported in the city till now.
