The national capital reeled under traffic snarls and waterlogging problems with several key road sections littered with puddles of water as incessant rains lashed the city for the second day in a row on Friday. The Meteorological Department has issued a yellow alert for Saturday as well, warning people of light rain at most places in Delhi, while heavy rains are expected at a few places.
Heavy rains disrupted traffic, drivers had to overcome waterlogged roads and sections blocked by fallen trees. Delhi Traffic Police has issued an alert and asked commuters to plan their journey keeping in mind the rain “Irrigation was observed near Hanuman Setu on Shanti van to Hanuman Mandir Carriageway, Libaspur underpass, Maharani Bagh Taimur Nagar cut, CDR Chowk, Mehrauli towards Gurugram, Andheria More towards Vasant Kunj, under Nizamuddin bridge, Singh border near petrol pump, MB road towards Sainik Farm road,” it tweeted, advising commuters to avoid these stretches.
Traffic police said they received 19 calls about traffic jams, 11 about waterlogging and 22 about falling trees. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi received 12 complaints of waterlogging and 16 uprooted trees. According to officials, traffic snarl calls were received from Sonia Vihar Pushta Road, under Bijwasan Flyover, Uttam Nagar Signal, near Vasant Kunj Church and Vasant Kunj Fortis Hospital, Rajdhani Park to Nangloi, Pitampura, Model Town Extension etc.
Some commuters also took to the microblogging site to share the traffic situation on the ground. One of the commuters said that traffic is heavy in Nangloi. Another user asked the police to manage heavy traffic between Batla House and Okhla. The police also received reports of traffic jams in East Delhi’s Mahipalpur and Preet Vihar areas.
In a related development, a portion of parapet above the first floor of a building at MCD-run Hindu Rao Hospital collapsed on Friday, a senior civic official said. However, no one was injured in the incident, the official said. The car was damaged after some debris fell on it. The exact cause of the collapse was not immediately known.
Delhi recorded more than half of September’s average rainfall in just 24 hours that ended at 8:30 am on Friday, swinging from rain deficit to rain surplus this month. The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi’s main weather station, recorded 58.5 mm of rainfall between September 1 and September 22 (Thursday morning) against the normal of 108.5 mm. 72mm of rain fell in the 24 hours ending at 8.30am on Friday, the first period of heavy rain this month. From September 1 to September 23, 130.5 mm of rain fell in the city. Normally, Delhi receives 125.5 mm of rainfall in September.
