Heavy rain brings Delhi-NCR to a standstill
Overnight, heavy rains through Thursday morning across Delhi-NCR regions triggered massive traffic jams caused by widespread waterlogging and uprooting of trees, even as more downpour is expected. From roads caving in to clouds hovering around high-rise buildings, several visuals went viral as normal life was disrupted in the Capital region. While the deluge brought a respite from the high temperatures in Delhi and the neighbouring areas, it resulted in a chaotic morning for daily commuters.
Roads and residential areas remained submerged in many parts on the Delhi-NCR, with commuters wading through knee-deep water and traffic crawling on Thursday morning. A few building collapses were also reported in the national Capital.
In Ghaziabad, a car and a scooter fell into a ditch after a road caved in following heavy rainfall. Kamla Nehru Nagar and Hindon in the district recorded 164 mm and 134 mm rainfall on Thursday. All schools in the district remained closed on Thursday following heavy rainfall and waterlogging in several parts Ghaziabad.
In Noida’s Sector 115, streets were submerged, with residents seen wading through knee-deep water, while flooded roads in Ghaziabad’s Shastrinagar locality led to major traffic delays.
“Around 40 calls were received for waterlogging, of which 32 have been resolved till afternoon. Waterlogging was witnessed in areas like Mayur Vihar and Seelampur Gurudwara Road. Also, teams are working to clear the water in these areas,” an official said.
Trees uprooted by strong winds blocked roads at several places, while flooding disrupted vehicular movement and damaged houses.
According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), two trees fell on Raja Dhir Singh Marg in southeast Delhi’s East of Kailash: One near the ISKCON temple, and another near the National Heart Institute. Officials said these incidents briefly blocked traffic before authorities cleared the debris and no injuries were reported in any of the incidents across Delhi.
Two more trees fell on Guru Ravidas Marg in the Kalkaji-Govindpuri area and on Dhingra Marg, prompting emergency response teams to remove the obstructions and restore vehicular movement. In a separate incident, a large tree fell on a parked car in Ranjeet Nagar, damaging the vehicle and the occupants escaped unhurt. Jagpinder Singh, a resident, claimed that despite his repeated complaints about the tree’s bad condition, civic authorities didn’t take action.
Several commuters and residents took to social media to share their ordeal. The IMD said the minimum temperature in Delhi settled at 24.3 degrees Celsius, 3.6 notches below normal. Generally cloudy skies with moderate to heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning are expected during the day.
Weather experts have attributed the persistent rain over the past two days to the seasonal monsoon trough shifting northwards from central India towards the Himalayan foothills.They said Delhi is likely to continue receiving widespread rainfall until the system moves further north, after which the city is expected to witness drier spells.
After heavy rainfall lashed Delhi, Chief Minister Rekha Gupta hit the ground inspecting the drainage arrangements in Shalamar Village in her assembly constituency on Thursday and directed officials to ensure proper water drainage. The Public Works Department (PWD) minister Parvesh Sahib Singh also visited the PWD’s control at ITO to review the dewatering arrangements and said that in most cases the stagnant water was removed and the “situation is better than in previous years”.
Officials said that on the instructions of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, teams of Public Works Department, Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Jal Board have been deployed across the city to prevent waterlogging. They claimed that the situation on all major roads was “under control” despite the heavy rain.