Highest rainfall in 46 years chokes City roads, throws life out of gear
A highly unusual rainfall in Delhi on Saturday, the highest in 46 years and almost double the precipitation recorded last year, threw traffic movement and daily life of Delhiites in complete disarray.
Several roads across the national Capital remained waterlogged, railway tracks submerged and Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport flooded with knee-deep water.
A bus with 40 passengers got trapped at a flooded underpass of Palam flyover, towards airport road on Saturday morning to be later rescued by the fire department. Another 18 passengers got trapped in a tempo and a truck and were rescued from the waterlogged area of outer Delhi’s Mundka.
Netizens posted pictures and videos of waterlogged streets on social media. In a video on Twitter purportedly showing waterlogging in Madhu Vihar, some DTC cluster buses could be seen standing in the water and other commuters manoeuvring their vehicles through the inundated road.
Due to heavy rainfall, an old building in Delhi’s Narela area, which was declared a dangerous structure by civic authorities, also collapsed. However, no one was injured in the incident.
As many as 262 waterlogging complaints were received by the Public Works Department (PWD) and civic agencies till evening.
Some of the key areas that witnessed heavy waterlogging included Ring Road near WHO building, ITO, NH-48 (Airport road), Moti Bagh, RK Puram, Madhu Vihar, Hari Nagar, Rohtak Road, Badarpur, Som Vihar, Ring Road near IP Station, Vikas Marg, Sangam Vihar, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Pul Prahladpur Underpass, Mahipalpur, Munirka, Rajpur Khurd, Nangloi and Kirari.
Waterlogging also resulted in heavy traffic jams at busy road stretches, including ITO, Ring Road, Mukarba Chowk, Azadpur, Pul Prahladpur and Rohtak Road. The authorities had to shut traffic movement on the Pul Prahladpur underpass due to waterlogging. Nearly 10 instances of trees falling were reported in the city.
According to IMD, the city recorded 117.9 mm rainfall from 5:30 am to 2:30 pm.
Delhi recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall on two consecutive days at the start of the month -- 112.1 mm on September 1 and 117.7 mm on September 2.
The IGI airport was also waterlogged leading to diversion of five flights towards Jaipur and Ahmedabad while three were cancelled.
Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said he spoke to airport officials and “was told that the waterlogged forecourt was cleared up within 30 minutes”.
The Aerocity area -- which houses multiple luxury hotels -- near the airport was also waterlogged in the morning with people trying to maneuver their cars through the accumulated water, showed another set of videos.
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said on Twitter that there was waterlogging at the forecourt for a short period. “Due to heavy downpour passengers encountered waterlogging for a short while. The on-ground team was immediately mobilised and the operations are back to normal since 9 am,” they tweeted.
Traffic police advised commuters to avoid roads that were affected due to waterlogging.
“There is waterlogging on NH 48 near Gurugram/Parade Road Crossing. Vehicles going from Dhaula Kuan to Gurugram are the worst affected. These vehicles may take the right turn on Carriappa marg and take a left turn from Thimmaayya Chowk on Thimmaayya Marg to reach Airport/ Gurgaon,” traffic police tweeted.
“Traffic Alert. Water logging near WHO on Ring Road. Kindly Avoid the Stretch,” it said in another tweet.
“Traffic is affected at Dwarka Sec- 20 road no-226 due to water logging. Please avoid using this route,” traffic police said in another tweet.
“This to inform that near about T point of road number 210 and 224 near DJB booster pump Dwarka, there is heavy water logging due to overflow of drain and rain. Commuters informed to avoid the stretch until situation is normal,” it tweeted.
“There is 3-4 feet of waterlogging in Rani Kheda Under Pass, traffic is affected. Please avoid using this route,” traffic police tweeted.
Taking a dig at Chief Minister Kejriwal, Delhi BJP leader and national secretary of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha Tejinder Bagga shared a video of himself on a rafting boat in a waterlogged street in Bhajanpura area of northeast Delhi.
“This season I wanted to go to Rishikesh for rafting but due to coronavirus and continuous lockdown I could not go. But I want to thank Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal as he has made arrangements for rafting in every nook and corner of Delhi (as streets are waterlogged). He should also hang boards of his this feat as he does in every case,” Bagga said in the video.