Traffic snarls, waterlogging mar Wednesday rain fun for Delhi residents

A good pour on Wednesday brought respite to the residents in Delhi from a long spell of humid heat, but became a bane for the commuters, who across the city were forced to negotiate snarls and waterlogging.

According to civic authorities, at least five complaints of tree felling were reported from across Delhi due to rains.

Trees were uprooted in Dwarka Sector-1, Tughlakabad village, Delhi Gate, Paschim Vihar, and Netaji Subhash Place.

Authorities said they received 11 calls complaining about waterlogging after the rain lashed the city.

Places that witnessed waterlogging and traffic congestion included stretches between INA and AIIMS, Moolchand Underpass, Aurobindo Marg between IIT and Adhchini, NH-8 (Delhi-Gurugram highway), and Mehrauli-Badarpur Road.

Ring Road between Naraina and Moti Bagh, Rohtak Road, Kapashera Chowk, ITO, Vikas Marg, Sarai Kale Khan, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Anand Parbat-Zakhira Road, Dhaula Kuan, Najafgarh, Mahipalpur, and Rangpuri were some of the other areas that saw waterlogging and traffic snarls.

Several incidents of vehicles breakdown due to heavy rain and waterlogging were also reported.

People tried to draw authorities' attention by posting pictures of submerged spots from across Delhi on social media.

A video shared on social media showed what was purported to be a mohalla clinic flooded with rainwater with doctors making urgent appeals to authorities to fix the problem.

PTI couldn't independently check the veracity of the video.

Traffic police took to Twitter to inform commuters about waterlogging and traffic congestion.

Kindly avoid the following routes due to waterlogging and vehicle breakdown in South District- 1) Aurbindo stretch from INA to AIIMS 2) Moochand Underpass on Ring Road 3) Aurbindo marg from IIT to Adhchini 4) MB road near Vayusenabad, Delhi traffic police said in a Tweet.

In another tweet, it said the traffic is affected on NH8 on both carriageways between Dhaula Kuan and Gurgaon due to waterlogging and breakdown of vehicles.

It also advised the commuters to avoid stretch between Naraina and Moti Bagh, where vehicles moved at a dragging speed on both sides of the road due to waterlogging.

The city was reeling under a muggy weather for the last several days, and Wednesday rain provided a long-pending respite to the people.

All the same, commuters had a nightmarish experience as they moved at a crawling speed on the city roads.

Delhi gets flooded even with slightest of rain followed by long traffic snarls. It is a nightmarish experience as I was stuck in traffic jams and reached home around an hour late from my office in central Delhi, said Joginder Sethi, a resident of New Ashok Nagar.

Another commuter, Lata Chauhan, said she fought traffic jams at number of places due to the collection of water on roads.

Authorities should do something to fix this issue, she said.