Heavy rain brings rush hour snarls on NH-8

Waterlogging and potholes caused by a fresh spell of rain made travel difficult for motorists on national highway no 8 on Monday morning. Sunil Thapliyal reports.

Waterlogging and potholes caused by a fresh spell of rain made travel difficult for motorists on national highway no 8 on Monday morning.

HT Image

A truck stuck in a waterlogged pit led to a massive traffic jam near the Kherki Dhaula toll plaza during the rush hour.

Even though the truck, which was stuck since Sunday night, was removed in the morning, thousands of office-goers and other motorists were stuck for hours due to slow vehicular movement along the 5-km potholed stretch between Rampur and Rajeev Chowk.

According to the traffic police, several vehicles broke down due to the waterlogging, causing more inconvenience to commuters. The snarl also affected those travelling between Delhi and Jaipur. The situation came back to normal only in the afternoon.

According to eyewitnesses, a truck that had been stuck in a pit since Sunday night could not be removed till the next morning. Even though it was removed by the authority concerned, water-filled potholes and caved in roads hit the traffic movement along the highway.

People were seen helplessly waiting in jams to reach their destinations. "Traffic came to a standstill and I was trapped in the jam till almost noon," said Rakesh Sharma, a BPO executive.

The situation became worse when several vehicles randomly took a U-turn, leading to congestion at several places.

Meanwhile, the traffic police claimed that they took the situation under control as soon as they got the information.

"We managed the situation after we got information about the incident. We removed the truck, but the road had caved in at some places, which led to the traffic jam," said Subhash Dagar, sub inspector, traffic police.

"Things, however, improved by the afternoon," he said.