Forecast of more rain worries flood-hit Bengalurians as they try to return to normal life
Bengaluru (PTI): Forecast of more rains and overcast skies since early Thursday morning with slight drizzle has caused worry among citizens of rain-battered Bengaluru, who were preparing to get back to routine, after some respite the previous day and water level in flooded areas receding slowly.
Residents of localities and apartments that were inundated are making attempts to drain out water and remove sludge from their houses and basements.
Some badly affected areas continued to remain in darkness without power supply and non-availability of drinking water, even as officials maintained that efforts were on to restore supply by repairing the damages.
While waterlogging on roads in most parts of the city are by and large clear, making way for easy movement of vehicles, some stretches along the Outer Ring Road and Marathahalli and nearby areas are said to be still facing some issues with vehicular movement with water still on roads.
Also, potholes continue to haunt city's motorists, especially two-wheeler riders.
Some residents of flood-hit localities and apartments, who had moved out to safer locations like either relatives or friends' places or hotels are getting back to their homes to assess the damage, and to carry out cleaning work.
"With the situation improving slightly, I have come to check my house, and to get it cleaned, but there seems to be a shortage of pumps to remove the remaining water, as they are in good demand now, also labourers to remove sludge. Will have to look out for them now. There is also a power cut...hope we don't receive more heavy rains," a resident at a locality near Yemalur said.
Another resident in Marathahalli, who lives in an apartment, sharing a similar ordeal said, hope there are no more heavy rains, it's been cloudy and drizzling since morning though.
Generators and power back-up equipment of apartments whose basements were submerged in flood waters have all mostly been damaged.
Also, according to officials restoring power supply to apartments whose basements are still waterlogged is not not safe.
Owners trying to attend to or getting their vehicles like- cars and bikes- that were either partially or fully under water due to flooding, were a common sight in parts of these areas.
The Meteorological office in Bengaluru in its forecast on Thursday morning for the city for the next 48 hours has said one or two spells of light to moderate rain or thundershowers were very likely.
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SC wants to know if FIRs filed over suicides of IIT student, NEET aspirant
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought to know if FIRs were registered after suicides of a IIT Kharagpur student and a NEET aspirant in Kota, Rajasthan, came to light.
A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan directed its registry to call for a report from both places at the earliest.
The top court noted a 22-year-old student studying in IIT, Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room on May 4, 2025.
"The deceased was a three-year civil engineering student. His body was found hanging in his room in the Madan Mohan Malaviya Hall. The student was identified as Mohammad Asif Qamar from Bihar’s Sheohar District," the bench noted.
The top court went on, "The press reporting indicates that just moments before his death, he was on a video call with his friend in Delhi. This is one of those unfortunate suicides by a student for which we have constituted the task-force to work on the various issues relating to students suicide."
The top court previously ordered the formation of a national task force, headed by former top court judge Justice S Ravindra Bhat, to address the mental health concerns of students to prevent suicides in higher educational institutions.
The apex court said it was taking cognisance of the matter with a view to ascertain whether the management or administration of IIT, Kharagpur lodged an FIR with the local police station in accordance with its earlier directions.
It also took into account another case of suicide by a NEET aspirant who hanged herself at her room in Parshavanath area in the city ahead of the National Medical Entrants Examination scheduled on May 11.
"It is reported that the girl was under 18 years of age and hailed from Sheopur in Madhya Pradesh. She had been living with her parents in Kota (Rajasthan) and for the past several years, she was preparing for NEET-UG at a coaching institute," the court added.
The bench observed it was reportedly the fourteenth case of suicide by a coaching student in Kota, Rajasthan in 2025.
"Since January, 2025, a total of 17 cases of suicides by coaching students were reported in Kota last year. We would like to know whether an FIR has been registered in connection with this suicide also or not," the bench said.
The matter then was posted on May 13.
Outlining a disturbing pattern of student suicides in educational institutions, the apex court on March 24 directed Delhi Police to register an FIR and probe the suicidal deaths of two IIT-Delhi students from the SC/ST community.
Saying it was "high time" that it took cognisance of the "serious issue", the court ordered formulation of comprehensive and effective guidelines to address and mitigate the underlying causes contributing to such distress among students.
The bench directed the Centre to deposit Rs 20 lakh with the registry within two weeks as an outlay for the initial operations of the NTF.
Noting a "disturbing pattern" of student suicides were being reported from various educational institutes, the apex court said these tragedies underscored the urgent need for a more robust, comprehensive and responsive mechanism to address various factors which compel students to resort to taking their own lives.
