Heavy rains cause massive waterlogging in Delhi cripple traffic
Todays Saturday rains literally crippled the traffic movement in the city as almost every street was cloggedDue to the waterlogging the Delhi Traffic Police in the morning closed several crucial underpasses and traffic moved at a snails pace at many stretchesTraffic movement on Minto Bridge both carriageways has been closed due to waterloggingThis resulted in waterlogging in the Minto Road underpassThe Minto Road underpass has been cleared he said
New Delhi August 21Record rains lashed the National Capital on Saturday crippling the traffic movement and causing heavy waterlogging in many parts of the city with places like Minto Bridge Rajghat Connaught Place and ITO being inundated after intense rainsThe India Meteorological Department IMD said Delhi recorded 139 mm of rainfall the highest one-day rain for August in at least 13 yearsIt has issued an orange alert a warning for extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and drain closures and interruption of power supply for the cityPublic Works Department PWD officials said 316 complaints of waterlogging were received at the control room till 430 pm on Saturday The officials said that the field staff was on the ground to address waterlogging complaints on priority basisAccording to data from the three civic bodies at least 14 incidents of tree felling were reported in the cityCommuters had a harrowing experience travelling from one place to another as vehicles crawled on important stretches People were also seen wading through waterlogged streets in different areas of the National CapitalStretches that witnessed jams include ITO Dhaula Kuan Mehram Nagar underpass near the airport Vikas Marg Mathura Road Ring Road Mukarba Chowk Rohtak Road near Peeragarhi Connaught Place Barakhamba Road and Bhairon MargNarrating his tale of traffic woe a commuter Vikas Tyagi said that it took him over four hours to reach Burari from Hapur due to extensive waterlogging on the city streetsIt is a nightmare to get stuck in a traffic jam Todays Saturday rains literally crippled the traffic movement in the city as almost every street was clogged Even the tributary roads of key stretches were jammed Usually it is two hours drive between Hapur and Burari but today I reached home in four hours Tyagi lamentedDue to the waterlogging the Delhi Traffic Police in the morning closed several crucial underpasses and traffic moved at a snails pace at many stretches The traffic police took to Twitter to inform commuters about road closuresTraffic movement on Minto Bridge both carriageways has been closed due to waterlogging Please avoid the stretch the traffic police said in a tweetHours later it informed people that normal traffic movement had been restored at the Minto Bridge underpassLast month Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that a world-class drainage system would be developed across the National CapitalHe had said drainage systems like the one at Minto Road would be replicated across Delhi and drains and sewers would be de-silted regularlyA senior PWD official said that the main reason behind the flooding of the Minto Road underpass was overflow of a Delhi Jal Board DJB sewer line along with a very high intensity rainVery high intensity and record rains occurred on Saturday which triggered overflow of a DJB sewer line near DDU Marg This resulted in waterlogging in the Minto Road underpass We have all the system in place so traffic was stopped immediately and water was pumped out the official saidHe added that the underpass was opened for traffic in three hoursOn Saturday the traffic police said that underpasses at Azad Market in central Delhi and Azadpur in north Delhi had been closed for traffic while vehicular movement was affected at Moolchand and Pul Prahladpur underpasses in south Delhi due to waterloggingOther places that witnessed waterlogging include the Ring Road near WHO building near IP Flyover Tilak Bridge underpass Lajpat Nagar Jangpura AIIMS flyover Connaught Place ITO Pusa Road Maharani Bagh GTK DTC depot yards of New Delhi Railway Station and Old Delhi Railway Station roads around Pragati Maidan Rohtak Road Nand Nagri and Loni ChowkTraffic movement was also disrupted on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road in south DelhiWaterlogging at Pul Prahladpur Underpass Traffic interrupted at MB road diverted on Mathura road Kindly avoid the stretch the traffic police tweetedAnother commuter Kartik Kumar who works in Connaught Place said he reached his office late due to traffic jamsI was stuck in a traffic jam at two-three places including ITO due to heavy waterlogging Delhi gets flooded even when it receives moderate rain This causes inconvenience to the public said Kumar who lives in NoidaSeveral residential areas and markets in Krishna Nagar Mayur Vihar-2 Babarpur Mangolpuri Kirari Malviya Nagar Sangam Vihar Sadar Bazar were also inundatedThe weatherman has forecast generally cloudy skies with moderate rain during the dayThe IMD has also issued a yellow alert indicating severely bad weather for Sunday for DelhiA PWD official said the departments field staff was working to resolve waterlogging complaintsThe intensity of rain this morning was high so a few areas of the city witnessed waterlogging Our field staff is on the ground and we are closely monitoring the situation The Minto Road underpass has been cleared he said PTI
