Boy, 12, among two electrocuted in flooded apartment basement in Indian IT hub

A 63-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy were electrocuted while pumping floodwater from an apartment basement in the Indian city of Bengaluru following heavy overnight rain.

The electrocution occurred due to a short circuit when the pump was switched on, local authorities told the media.

The victims were identified as Manamohan Kamath, 63, a resident of Madhuvana Apartment in Dollar’s Colony and 12-year-old Dinesh, the son of a maintenance worker employed at the building.

The incident occurred around 6.15am, as Kamath prepared to drain floodwater from the basement using a hired pump.

According to police, he was electrocuted immediately after the pump was switched on due to a short circuit and Dinesh was fatally electrocuted moments later.

Their bodies have been sent for postmortem examination, local police said.

Bengaluru recorded approximately 104mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours, inundating low-lying areas and triggering widespread traffic snarls across the city.

The scenes of waterlogged streets and gridlocked roads were all too familiar – an annual ordeal for the IT hub during monsoon spells.

Visuals captured the extent of the flooding, as the city’s ageing infrastructure buckled under the downpour.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for parts of Karnataka, including Bengaluru, with more rain forecast over the next two days.

As water-logging continues to disrupt daily life, authorities have reportedly begun efforts to manage the fallout. Karnataka home minister G Parameshwara told reporters that the newly formed Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which replaced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) – which was previously responsible for the city’s municipal affairs – is actively addressing the issue.

He attributed the severe flooding in several parts of the city to clogged drains caused by the accumulation of leaves, paper, and other debris.

On Monday night, Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said that while the government has mapped 210 flood-prone areas across Bengaluru, with work completed in the majority of them, the city’s traffic police have separately flagged 132 vulnerable spots where rainwater disrupts traffic.

Mr Shivakumar said that 197 km of stormwater drains have been constructed so far, with Rs20bn (£174m) allocated for the effort.

“Traffic police have flagged 132 spots that get flooded during heavy rains. Of these, 82 have been fixed while 41 are pending,” he said.

Speaking about the areas worst hit by rainfall, he said that the quantum of rainfall in areas like Silk Board Junction, Hebbal, and Yelahanka had been especially high. “Underpass works are ongoing in a few of these areas and they have been affected. We will coordinate with relevant departments to address this.”

In a separate rain-related tragedy, a 35-year-old woman lost her life when a compound wall collapsed at an IT firm in the city.