IMD predicts more rains for next 5 days

New Delhi/Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall in several parts of the country in the next five days.

As per the weather forecasting agency, the western end of monsoon trough runs to the north of its normal position and the eastern end along the foothills of Himalayas.

Similarly, north-south trough runs from southeast Madhya Pradesh to Comorin area while a cyclonic circulation lies over Comorin area and neighbourhood in lower tropospheric levels. There will be subdued rainfall activity over plains of Northwest India and over Central India during the next 5 days.

The IMD said that Bengaluru may witness heavy rains during the next few days. The weatherman has issued a red alert and asked the citizens to prepare for more floods as the water level is likely to increase. Both urban and rural areas of Bengaluru will be affected by the rains, the weatherman warned.

"We have issued a red alert for the region. Some pockets may get more than 20 mm of rainfall in an hour," a senior India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said. According to the IMD data, Bengaluru Urban district received 43.1 mm of rain on Tuesday, 585 percent more than average. The authorities asked the citizens to take necessary precautions and directed those living on the ground floors to shift to safer places.

The weather department is certain about light to moderate rain in the city and cautioned that a heavy downpour is "very likely". People will have to bear with the present condition for a few more days and should be ready for the worst in the coming days, they said.

However, water started receding in some areas and many of the important roads have been cleared, the city police said. The water level has started to recede at the Outer Ring Road near Eco Space in Bengaluru, which was badly hit by the incessant rains. The drinking water supply has also been restored in the city, except few pockets.

After severe waterlogging in the city for the second time in a week drove the authority's attention to choked drainage points, the civic body has started bulldozing encroachments on stormwater drains, especially in Mahadevapura and Bommanahalli areas.

The Karnataka High Court, meanwhile, directed BBMP to immediately set up ward-wise grievance cells to address issues of the flood-hit citizens and ordered them to prepare a proposal to install sluice gates for all lakes in the city and submit it to the state government for approval at the earliest.