Heavy rains lead to waterlogging, traffic congestion in Delhi

New Delhi: Heavy rains wreaked havoc in the city as commuters faced harrowing time navigating through waterlogged roads and faced traffic congestion.

A bus was submerged in water under the Minto Road bridge and its seven to eight occupants were rescued by the Delhi Fire Service. 

BJP legislator and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta in a tweet complained that his vehicle was partially drowned in water and shared a video, in the microblogging site, of the overflooded road outside the Delhi Secretariat.

He lambasted the Delhi PWD for not desilting drains under its jurisdiction before the onset of monsoon.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Arun Kampani said, "Following heavy rains, a total of 57 calls about waterlogging were received at Delhi Traffic Police Control Room from across the city. Civic agencies were informed through hotline to pump out water from the affected areas." 

Six calls relating to falling of trees were also received. Through social media tools of the Delhi Traffic Police, motorists were advised to avoid the affected stretches, he said.

"Around 2,500 traffic police personnel have been deployed to regulate traffic across the city. In addition, all recovery vans were deployed to clear the affected stretches. Senior officers of the traffic unit remained present in their respective areas to personally monitor the traffic situation and we are sharing information through Google and other available means to regulate traffic," the officer said.

Waterlogging was reported at over 30 places in north Delhi, including in Mukherjee Nagar, Nehru Vihar, Outram Lines, Adarsh Nagar, Shashtri Nagar and Inderpuri, civic officials said. In south Delhi, waterlogging was reported from at least eight places, including in Vasant Kunj, Neb Serai, Jasola, Pragati Maidan Gate number four and Malviya Nagar's Tikona Park.

In east Delhi too, waterlogging were reported from some areas. Two trees in south Delhi and one in north Delhi's Keshav Puram area were uprooted due to rains. 

There was heavy waterlogging under the Minto Road Bridge, Tilak Bridge, Modi Mill Flyover, Dhaula Kuan flyover and near Welcome Metro station. Heavy waterlogging was also reported outside Zakir Hussain College, ITO, Feroz Shah Kotla Ground, between Rajghat and ITO, between Geeta Colony and Karkardooma and on Mathura Road.

Commuters faced problems at Zakhira Flyover Kamal T-Point, Anand Parbat, Y-Point Old Railway bridge Kishan Ganj, Azad Market and near Old Iron Bridge Dharmpura.
Heavy traffic was witnessed at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg due to heavy rain.

Waterlogging was also reported at and around Mayapuri Flyover, Naraina Flyover towards Mayapuri, Bhairon Marg under Railway Bridge, Airport Road, Mathura Road from Delhi zoo to Sher Shah Suri Road, Moolchand Underpass, Near Chhatarpur metro station, Baba Khadak Singh Marg , under Defence Colony Flyover and near Shadipur Metro Station.

Trees fell near Ashok Vihar traffic signal and near the ILBS Hospital traffic signal in Vasant Vihar.

Due to waterlogging under the Minto Road under bridge, traffic was diverted towards Kasturba Gandhi Marg and Barakhamba Road.

Outside Moments Mall, a sewer cover ruptured which led to waterlogging and traffic was diverted towards Todapur.

Traffic was heavy in the carriageway from Ashok Vihar towards Azadpur, Model Town towards Azadpur due to waterlogging. Traffic from Karol Bagh to Patel Nagar was diverted to Dev Prakash Shastri Marg towards Inderpuri.

Cab companies also hiked the fares due to the rain and commuters between Delhi and Gurgaon were affected by availability of fewer cabs.