NEW DELHI: As is now resignedly expected by the capital’s denizens, the day-long showers caused 58 city roads to go under, the main consequence being massive traffic jams. A building collapsed in Begumpur, but there was no loss of lives.
Reports of waterlogging came from RK Puram, Rajpath, Outer Ring Road, Moti Bagh, Dwarka, Aurobindo Marg, Tis Hazari Courts, Madhu Vihar and the underpasses at Rani Khera, Pul Prahladpur and the area near Indira Gandhi International Airport. The condition of Minto Bridge was, however, heartening with no accumulation of water there, according to traffic officials.
Videos surfaced during the day of children ‘swimming’ in the collection of water on roads and public areas, such as opposite the Civic Centre, headquarters of the municipal corporations. In another video, a biker was seen struggling to extricate his two-wheeler from the deluge at Mundka Underpass in north Delhi. Abhishek Dutt, Congress member of South Delhi Municipal Corporation from Andrew Ganj, shared a video of Mehrauli-Badarpur Road. “This road, used by thousands, was inundated and shut down. Unfortunately, nothing seems to have been done to improve the drainage system here,” Dutt said.
Muktesh Chander, special commissioner of police (Traffic), explained that waterlogging slowed down traffic considerably. “Several vehicles break down, two wheelers riders take shelter below bridges and at bus-stops, creating road constrictions, water collection reduces road width and at some spots, the water level is dangerously high,” he said. “We had traffic officers managing the traffic, though it is still difficult for them to perform their duties wearing raincoats.”
There were traffic gridlocks throughout the city, particularly frustrating at Dhaula Kuan, Azadpur in north Delhi and Khajuri flyover in east Delhi. High water levels halted vehicular movement on several other major roads. Due to construction work and barricading at the underpass project at Pragati Maidan, traffic moved at snail’s pace. “Waterlogging cannot be avoided here because of the construction work, and the project team arranged for pumps immediately,” claimed a PWD official.
Traffic had to be diverted from Mukarba and Azadpur chowks due to waterlogging to prevent access to a flooded GT Karnal Road. At Khajuri flyover, the traffic going to Brijpuri was crammed into a single lane.
There was another traffic problem, when around 2pm, the residents of Kanjhawala blocked the road to protest the unending work of Delhi Jal Board that was impeding movement. The local police and the traffic cops reached the protest site and diverted the traffic, restoring it to normality around 4.20pm after getting the protesters to vacate the spot.
The fire department rescued 59 people in different locations across the city. In Jain Nagar near Begumpur in northwest Delhi, the showers led to a building collapse. The North Delhi Municipal Corporation had, however, already vacated it on Friday and there were, therefore, no casualties. Besides this, the civic body also received some complaints about some portions of buildings falling in Paharganj and Jama Masjid areas.
About the building that collapsed, area councillor Jayendar Dabas said, “It was a four-storey structure that we had fortunately vacated after finding it to be in a dangerous state. On Saturday morning, it finally came crumbling down. Thankfully, no casualty has been reported. This is an unauthorised but regularised colony where waterlogging is a constant problem.”
