48-hour alert in Bangalore: Thunderstormis looming

Heavy rain lashed the city on Thursday evening, resulting in massive traffic jams and water-logging.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) control rooms said that although heavy rain hit the city, there were no untoward incidents, such as tree falls or flooding of houses.

However, due to overflowing drains, major areas like Majestic, Shantinagar, Vannarpet and MG Road witnessed traffic hold-ups, because of which commuters were left stranded.

Met department officials said that they have already forecast thunderstorms with rain for the next 48 hours.

Officials, however, pointed out that there was nothing unusual about rains hitting the city, this month. City received 22.4 mm of rainfall and airport 19 mm till Wednesday evening.

While the city received adequate rain, coastal districts like Mangalore received 35 mm rainfall for the past 24 hours and Honnavar received 16 mm.

"Udupi and Shirali are other coastal areas that received more rainfall than predicted," said met department officials.

The northern and southern districts of interior Karnataka received two or three spells or no rainfall since Tuesday, till the showers hit on Wednesday.

Commuters were left stranded on MG Road, which witnessed water-logging and traffic snarls, as most parts of the city received heavy rain late on Thursday evening A Veeramani