Showers hit Delhi traffic; waterlogging, road cave-in reported from many places

Data shared by the Delhi Traffic Police till 11am showed that 39 key stretches, including underpasses and major crossings, saw waterlogging and pumps had to be installed to remove excess water

After a hot and humid week, showers early Monday morning brought the city to a standstill, with traffic moving at a snail’s pace in several arterial roads during the rush hours. Delhi Traffic Police said that in many areas, the early morning showers led to roads being inundated, which caused vehicle breakdowns and long traffic snarls. While traffic had to be diverted at several places, some areas had to be barricaded because of a portion of road caving in.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road near ITO in New Delhi in Monday, July 19. (PTI)

Data shared by the Delhi Traffic Police till 11am showed that 39 key stretches, including underpasses and major crossings, saw waterlogging and pumps had to be installed to flush out excess water. “Traffic had to be diverted at several stretches because of heavy waterlogging in the morning while some areas had to be barricaded in order to avoid any accidents because of road cave-ins,” said a senior police official.

The stretches include Vasant Kunj underpass, Zakhira underpass, Mehruali Badarpur Road, Pul Prehladpur, Dwarka Link Road, Okhla Mandi, Lajpat Nagar metro station, Adhchini, Spinal Injury Hospital, IP Estate, Mehram Nagar underpass, NHS underpass, Lampur underpass, Murga Mandi, Seempauri, Najafgarh-Bijwasan (under flyover), Press Enclave and DLF Marg-SSN Marg.

“Pul Prehladpur underpass has been closed by the police due to waterlogging, traffic going towards Mehrauli-Badarpur road has been diverted due to it. Besides, road cave-ins have been reported from Press Enclave (Saket) road in south Delhi and Madhu Vihar (Dwarka) to Sagarpur Road, where agencies concerned have been informed and restoration work is being taken up,” the official said.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the official marker for the city, received 69.6 mm rainfall over the past 24 hours. The Palam weather station has so far received the highest 24-hour rainfall of the season at 99.3 mm. Lodhi Road weather station recorded 62 mm while Ridge and Aya Nagar stations got 58 mm and 51.6 mm rainfall, respectively.