Rains throw normal life out of gear in Bengaluru, parts of Karnataka
Bengaluru, Oct 15: Incessant rains since early Tuesday threw normal life out of gear in central and southern parts of Karnataka, including the state capital Bengaluru where several localities witnessed water-logging and traffic congestion.
Motorists faced difficulties navigating through the city traffic due to the downpour as several roads in Varthur, Hebbal, Kadubeesanahalli, and surrounding areas were water-logged.
Areas housing major technology companies like Manyata Tech Park on Outer Ring Road (ORR) and tech hubs like Sarjapur were among the affected.
"Nagawara flyover near Manyata Tech Park is waterlogged....slow movement of vehicles on both sides," a traffic official said. "Hennur-Bagalur road, Ganganagar, and Ramamurthy Nagar were also waterlogged. Heavy rainfall has led to slow-moving traffic across the city."
In the wake of rains across Bengaluru, the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has set up 24X7 exclusive control rooms in its eight zones and also launched a helpline number (1533) to report rain-related problems.
Meanwhile, the BBMP's disaster management team has cleared waterlogging under the Hebbal flyover, allowing vehicular movement.
Due to heavy rains, trees also were uprooted in areas like Syndicate Bank Colony in Banashankari.
BBMP officials have been instructed to be on high alert. In a virtual meeting held by BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Giri Nath, he advised all officials to stay prepared for any emergencies and to focus on flood-prone areas.
According to Traffic Police, gridlocks were reported on major roads including ORR, Tumakuru Road and Airport Road. Heavy waterlogging was also reported on Bellary Road at Hunsamaranahalli.
"Traffic towards airport is severely affected. Commuters are requested to plan their travel accordingly and use alternate routes," a traffic police official urged.
"There is heavy waterlogging and congestion on ORR between Kadubeesanahalli and Marathalli. Traffic movement is slow," he said.
India Meteorological Department officials said a low pressure area that formed over the Bay of Bengal was the trigger for the widespread rainfall.
They said the arid regions of northern parts of the state would witness similar weather conditions in the next 24 hours. "This situation will prevail for the next three to four days," an official said.
Students and office-goers in Bengaluru in particular had a tough time following road congestion due to the rains.
IMD has issued a yellow alert -- indicating worsening weather conditions that could disrupt daily life -- for the districts of Tumakuru, Mysuru, Kodagu, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Kolar, Shivamogga and Chikkaballapura in addition to coastal Karnataka.
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Bad timing: Fraudsters call senior Indore cop during press briefing to pull off 'digital arrest'
Indore, Nov 24: Some online fraudsters got their target and timing horribly wrong on Sunday after they attempted to "digitally arrest" a senior police official with an automated call over "credit card misuse" while he was addressing a press conference in Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
"The caller informed that I had misused my credit card and as a result a case had been registered with Andheri West police station in Mumbai. I was having a press briefing at the time. I was told my bank account would be blocked and was asked to visit the police station in two hours," Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) of Indore crime branch Rajesh Dandotia told PTI.
The official said he told the caller he would not be able to make it to Mumbai from Indore at such short notice.
"The caller told me he would be connect me to someone from the police station. He then connected me to another person, who asked me to wait. He said he would talk to his senior officer to see if my statement could be recorded via video call. When he saw me in police uniform, he immediately disconnected the video call," the official narrated.
Dandotia said he asked media persons to record a video so that people can be made aware of such cyber crimes and digital arrest.
Digital arrest is a modus operandi of cyber criminals who threaten a person with arrest, force the person to remain confined in a room while keeping him or her under electronic surveillance and then extort money on the pretext of "clearing" him or her of charges.
जब एडीसीपी क्राइम इंदौर को ही आ गया डिजिटल अरेस्ट के लिए कॉल pic.twitter.com/H965PKz1Mo
— SanjayGupta_Journalist (@sanjaygupta1304) November 24, 2024
