PWD asks Delhi Police to halt traffic near flooded underpasses, low-lying areas

This is in preparation for the arrival of monsoon in the national Capital, which the India Meteorological Department has predicted to be tomorrow, July 10

The Public Works Department (PWD) has written to the Delhi Police to temporarily halt traffic movement around “underpasses and low-lying areas” in case the area is flooded and the depth of the rainwater crosses 20cm.

A bus is submerged under Minto bridge during heavy monsoon rain in New Delhi in 2018. (File photo)

PWD, which comes under the Delhi government, manages all roads wider than 60 feet while the civic bodies maintain narrower roads.

This is in preparation for the arrival of monsoon in the national Capital, which the India Meteorological Department has predicted to be tomorrow, July 10.

PWD officials said this is being done in order to avert accidents due to waterlogging during the monsoon. In July last year, a man died of drowning at the Minto Road underpass which has been a perennial waterlogging point in the national Capital for decades.

“We will keep updating the traffic police about the water levels following which, they can barricade the areas,” said a senior PWD official.

While last year the agency had decided to stop traffic at Minto Bridge if water level reached near 45cm, this is the first time it will be implemented across Delhi’s underpasses (vulnerable points) if the depth of the water reaches 20cm.

The underpasses that often get submerged in water even with the slightest of rainfall include Minto Bridge, Munirka, Prahladpur, Zakhira, Kashmere Gate, Dwarka and Peeragarhi.