The national Capital woke up to a pleasant morning as heavy rain lashed several parts of the heat struck Delhi, bringing much-needed respite from the heat to Delhiites. However, the downpour resulted in traffic congestion and waterlogging in several areas across the city.

Commuters at many places in the city faced inconvenience as traffic police received several calls for waterlogging issues, traffic congestions and fallen trees.

The city’s primary weather station Safdarjung recorded a maximum temperature of 35.4 degrees celsius, 1.8 degrees below the normal. The minimum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 28.6 degrees Celsius. The heat index or feel like temperature was recorded at 44.9 degrees celsius. The relative humidity oscillated between 82 per cent and 61 per cent.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) earlier in the day forecasted moderate to heavy rain over parts of Delhi and adjoining areas will cause slippery roads, low visibility, traffic disruption and localised waterlogging in low-lying areas.

Amid the heavy rain, several parts of the city reported traffic snarls including heavy traffic from the Akshardham area to Ghazipur meat market due to waterlogging. Vehicles were seen crawling on the stretch. Similarly, the traffic was also heavy on the Akshardham-Sarai Kale Khan road.

A resident of Noida Ramesh Sharma shared how near Ghazipur it took him more than an hour to cross a half a kilometre stretch because of heavy traffic jams. “There were no traffic police and lorries and trucks carrying material for the construction site of Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) created chaos. It made the traffic worse,” he said, adding that his average mileage dipped from 14.9 to 12.6 due to heavy traffic and frequent stops.

Avadesh Mehra, a resident of Ghaziabad, said that it took him around one hour to reach his home.  “The traffic was very heavy on the stretch from near Akshardham towards UP. There was water logging near the Ghazipur meat market roundabout. It took me an hour to pass the stretch and reach my home. The condition of traffic was very bad,” Mehra said.

Akshita Sharma, who works at a firm in central Delhi, said that the traffic was very heavy from near the toll gate on NH-48. Traffic was also affected at ITO due to waterlogging. Meanwhile, the BJP slammed the AAP for waterlogging on several road stretches in the city with light rain on Thursday, alleging that around 150 of 700 drains were desilted in the city.

“Those (AAP) who used to curse the MCD earlier for all the civic problems are now themselves ruling the civic body and they can not have the excuse that they are powerless. The AAP government is least concerned with Delhi people and their well-being,” Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva stated, attacking the AAP run Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

There are over 700 drains that need to be desilted before Monsoon every year, Sachdeva said and claimed “Our information is only around 150 were desilted so far and rest are filled with silt.”

“The Delhi people are left with no option but to tolerate such a government where no minister is ready to be accountable for anything,” he said, warning  if the drains were not cleaned on a war footing, the Delhi people were in for worse days in the rainy season. The Monsoon is delayed this year and the agencies like MCD and PWD, both under AAP dispensation, had ample time to desilt the drains, he added.

A wall of a vacant plot collapsed due to rain in southwest Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area. The police said no one was injured in the incident. “We are investigating the matter. CCTV footage shows no one was around when the wall collapsed,” a senior police officer said. People took to social media platforms to share the traffic-related problems faced by them. Commuters said that there was heavy traffic on the airport route from Raja Garden marble market till Naraina, from Meera Bagh/Vikaspuri flyover towards Peeragarhi, and on the Mahipalpur-Gurgaon route. Nishant Yaduvanshi, a resident of Bhopura in Ghaziabad, said, “I was going to Patparganj to see an ailing relative. However, the traffic condition was very pathetic from Anand Vihar to Ghazipur roundabout.”