Rains trigger waterlogging, traffic chaos across Capital
Rainwater pooling on roads, vehicles inching through long traffic snarls and flooded stretches across several neighbourhoods turned Wednesday’s showers into another difficult day of commute for Delhiites, as waterlogging disrupted movement in many parts of the national Capital for hours.
The rain left several roads submerged, slowing traffic across key corridors and affecting movement in different parts of the city.
Heavy congestion was reported on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, while commuters also faced slow-moving traffic at ITO, Mathura Road, Lodhi Road, parts of Lutyens’ Delhi, Rohtak Road, the Shankar Road-Kirti Nagar stretch, the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Madhuban Chowk, Peeragarhi and Shaheen Bagh.
Traffic movement was also affected in several parts of east Delhi, including GT Road, Loni Road, Jhilmil, GTB Enclave and Dilshad Garden, where rainwater accumulation slowed vehicular movement.
Waterlogging was reported from multiple locations across the city, including the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, where inundation persisted for several hours.
Stretches in Sangam Vihar, including Shani Bazaar Road, and Dakshin Puri also remained waterlogged, while flooding-like conditions were reported from parts of south Delhi. Waterlogging was also reported from several areas in central Delhi.
The gallery of Safdarjung Hospital was filled with rainwater following the showers. According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), three cases of tree felling were reported across the city between 6 am and 2 pm on Wednesday.
The MCD control room also received 10 complaints of waterlogging between 2 pm and 6 pm, with five complaints each from the Central and South zones.
Many commuters took to social media to share videos and photographs of submerged roads and complain about waterlogging in areas such as CR Park, Sangam Vihar, Lodhi Road and several other localities, saying the inundated stretches made commuting difficult.
Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, Safdarjung, the city’s base weather station, recorded 15.6 mm of rainfall, while Lodhi Road received 38.7 mm. Palam recorded 1.4 mm, Ayanagar 0.2 mm and Ridge reported trace rainfall during the period.
Earlier, in the 24 hours ending at 8:30 am, Safdarjung recorded 10.8 mm of rainfall, Ayanagar 49.3 mm, Palam 8.3 mm, Lodhi Road 3.9 mm and Ridge 3.0 mm.
The maximum temperature settled at 32.6 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 31.0 degrees Celsius at Palam, 32.8 degrees Celsius at Lodi Road, 34.0 degrees Celsius at Ridge and 30.5 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar. It was 1.6 notches below normal at Safdarjung, 3.4 notches below normal at Palam, 0.2 notches below normal at Lodhi Road, normal at Ridge and 3.5 notches below normal at Ayanagar.
The India Meteorological Department has forecast a generally cloudy sky with moderate rain on Thursday.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 32 degrees Celsius and 23 degrees Celsius, respectively. A yellow alert has been issued for the national Capital.
The minimum temperature was recorded at 26.6 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung, 24.9 degrees Celsius at Palam, 26.7 degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road, 23.8 degrees Celsius at Ridge and 25.9 degrees Celsius at Ayanagar. It was 0.3 notches below normal at Safdarjung, 1.9 notches below normal at Palam, 0.7 notch above normal at Lodi Road, 2.4 notches below normal at Ridge and 0.5 notch below normal at Ayanagar.
