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Heavy rains flood Delhi roads, disrupt citywide traffic

August 20, 2024 21:30 IST

Traffic crawled in Delhi as heavy rain caused waterlogging in several parts of the city on Tuesday, officials said.

IMAGE: Vehicles and people wade through a waterlogged road in New Delhi, following heavy rains, August 20, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Some of the places where heavy waterlogging was reported included the Minto Bridge underpass, Feroz Shah Road, Patel Chowk Metro Station area and Maharaj Ranjeet Singh Marg.

Some of the visuals which are making rounds on social media, show water entering the road under Minto Bridge following heavy downpour.

 

An auto-rickshaw is seen submerged in the waterlogged Minto Road.

A senior police officer said that due to the rain, the auto-rickshaw developed some technical snag and the driver left it behind before the water filled on the road.

According to Delhi PWD, the Minto Bridge underpass was closed to vehicular traffic for almost two to three hours in the morning until the waterlogging was cleared.

The road was opened for the commuters at 11.30 am after waterlogging from all the underpasses was cleared and traffic is moving normally, a PWD official said.

PWD said they received around 80 complaints regarding waterlogging.

Out of those, the work of removing water is still underway at two locations -- Mundka and Najafgarh. Traffic is moving in all areas and all underpasses are open.

The department has received 12 calls regarding falling trees, it said.

According to the MCD, they got 29 complaints about waterlogging and 12 related to falling of trees.

"I was not aware that the Minto Road underpass was closed for commuting. I saw several people were working there with water pumps to remove the waterlogging. I waited there for sometime and later took an alternate route to reach Connaught Place," Vaishali Chaudhary, a commuter travelling to Connaught Place in central Delhi, said.

Due to the road cave-in opposite Old Delhi Railway Station in the carriageway from Chhatta Rail towards Pili Kothi, traffic is affected. Diversion has been made from Kodiya Pul Red Light, the police said.

The Delhi police had issued traffic advisories for the affected roads.

In a post on X, the police said the traffic was affected on Outer Ring Road on both carriageways from Bhera Enclave roundabout towards Peeragarhi due to waterlogging.

New Rohtak Road also faced traffic issues in both directions at Anand Parbat because of waterlogging, they said.

Similarly, traffic was disrupted on Rohtak Road in the section from Nangloi towards Tikri Border and vice versa due to potholes and waterlogging. Motorists were advised to avoid Mundka and use alternate routes.

The traffic was also slow in north Delhi's Shastri Nagar area.

Due to waterlogging on Indraprastha Marg (IP Marg) from Old Police Head Quarter Exit Gate to IP Flyover, traffic was affected, the police said in the post.

"Traffic was extremely heavy on the ITO Yamuna Bridge and the road outside the old police headquarters was waterlogged, causing slower traffic movement. I was heading to my office in central Delhi and these two stretches significantly delayed my travel time," Virender Singh, a resident of Laxmi Nagar, said.

Rohtak Road in west Delhi was also hit by traffic from Tikri Border to Peeragarhi and vice-versa due to waterlogging at Mundka, the police said.

Similarly, the traffic was also affected on both carriageways of Mahatma Gandhi Marg following the waterlogging under Mangi Bridge.

Another commuter, Krishan Kumar, a resident of Pitampura, said, "The traffic was massive in Peeragarhi, on Mangolpuri flyover, Madhuban Chowk, and Kashmere Gate areas. I was travelling by my car but due to traffic situation, I had to take metro after parking my vehicle at Kashmere Gate."

The police have also issued advisories for traffic at Chatta Rail Chowk, Nigam Bodh Ghat, Ch. Fateh Singh Marg, and the railway underbridge in Azad Market

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