Monsoon mayhem: Delhi battles waterlogging, traffic chaos
Torrential rain battered Delhi on Thursday, inundating roads, disrupting traffic across the city and leaving commuters stranded for hours on several key stretches, as civic agencies attempted to attend to complaints regarding traffic congestion, waterlogging and fallen trees. With heavy rainfall, Thursday became Delhi’s wettest day of August so far this year, offering respite from the humidity.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Lodi Road recorded the highest rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm at 60.4 mm, followed by Safdarjung at 56.0 mm, Ridge at 54.4 mm, Ayanagar at 22.3 mm and Palam at 14.6 mm. The cumulative rainfall recorded since 8.30 am stood at 43.8 mm at Lodi Road, 25.2 mm at Palam, 18.7 mm at Safdarjung, 17.2 mm at Ridge and 14.2 mm at Ayanagar, the IMD said.
Sangam Vihar was among the worst-affected areas, with roads submerged and traffic movement severely disrupted. Waterlogging was also reported from Sainik Farms, Shastri Park, Rohtak Road, Tughlaqabad, near the Red Fort and parts of ITO, where inundated roads brought vehicles to a crawl.
Heavy congestion was reported from several key arterial roads including Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, Ber Sarai, the JNU Gate-Jia Sarai stretch, NH-48 between Dhaula Kuan and Rajokri flyover towards Gurugram, MB Road, Kalindi Kunj, Najafgarh, Rajdhani Park-Mundka, ITO-Laxmi Nagar, Akshardham, the CWG Village-Nizamuddin Bridge-Sarai Kale Khan corridor, and the Delhi-Dehradun expressway.
Commuters took to social media to express anguish over traffic snarls, with several saying journeys that usually take a few minutes stretched to over 45 minutes or even hours. Many also flagged malfunctioning traffic signals and absence of traffic personnel at some bottlenecks.
“I travel from Noida Sector-62 to Connaught Place daily and the route usually takes 45 minutes. Today, it took me more than two hours. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic and no traffic personnel in sight. Commuters had been left on their own,” one Sidharth Sharma said.
Traffic movement near the Green Park metro station, Yusuf Sarai market and AIIMS also remained slow during peak hours.
The congestion extended to roads leading to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, prompting major airlines to advise passengers to leave early for the airport in view of slow-moving traffic due to heavy rain and waterlogging in parts of the city. According to commuters, the rain also affected traffic at Kalindi Kunj, where vehicles were seen moving slowly amid waterlogged stretches.
Civic agencies remained engaged in clearing waterlogged stretches and removing fallen trees. According to officials, the Public Works Department (PWD) received around 30 complaints related to waterlogging, most of which were resolved within an hour. It also received 10 complaints of fallen trees, and clearance work is underway.
Major traffic congestion and waterlogging were reported from Defence Colony, Subroto Park, IGNOU Road, Sainik Farms, Mathura Road and Chawla, officials said.