Rains throw Delhi traffic out of gear

Though the mercury remained much below the normal level, the pleasant morning also brought with it huge traffic snarls and water-logged roads.u00a0

A day after heavy downpour, Delhiites yet again had the bitter taste of unprecedented traffic jams in the water-logged city on Friday. The overnight rains, however, kept the mercury below the normal level. But the pleasant morning failed to cheer up many people, especially in the east Delhi, as the traffic-related problems played havoc with commuters' schedules. People at major intersections faced a harrowing time and many were found cursing the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.


Venetian delhi: Water-logged road near Zakir Hussain College in New
Delhi on Friday. pic/Imtiyaz Khan

"There was a flood-like situation that led to traffic jams. People got stuck and vehicles splashed water while passing. This is the situation after every spell of rain because the MCD has not done its job responsibly. We were hoping that September will see an end to the rainy season but the rains just don't seem to stop," said Shweta Samaria, a student.


Water water everywhere: Water logging nearu00a0 Zakir Hussain College
in New Delhi on Friday. Pic/Imtiyaz Khan

According to Delhi Traffic Police officials, intersections such as ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Ring Road, South Extension, Azad Market, Kashmere Gate, Nehru Place and Badarpur flyover, faced huge traffic-related snarls. Water logging in several parts of the Capital threw life out of gear as scores of people were seen stranded on the roads during the morning rush hours.

According to MCD, 20 cases of fallen trees were reported from across the Capital and most roads in areas of east Delhi, such as Laxmi Nagar and Preet Vihar, were filled with water, through which vehicles were seen wading through. As traffic went haywire, some commuters parked their vehicles at nearby Metro stations and boarded trains to their destinations.

"I have never seen such heavy rains such as which lashed entire Delhi today. I got stuck in the traffic for more than four hours. The experience was too horrible. Such occurrences expose our lack of preparedness," said Aatish Prashar, Assistant Professor at IP University. According to the Met department, the Capital received 34.6 mm of showers for a period of 24 hours. The heavy downpour brought some relief from the hot and humid weather to the people, as minimum temperature was recorded around 25 degrees Celsius.

Last year, maximum temperature had not crossed 35 degrees Celsius mark in the month of September. The month also received the highest rainfall (332.9 mm) in 10 years in 2010. The record maximum for September was on 16th of the month in 1938, when the mercury rose to 40.6 degrees Celsius.