Traffic jams in parts of Delhi due to rain, hike in cab prices

Although rain brought relief to Delhiites from the sweltering heat on Friday but traffic jams due to waterlogging caused major problems for commuters on the Capital’s roads. Monsoon to hit Delhi by July 4.

Although rain brought relief to Delhiites from the sweltering heat on Friday but traffic jams due to waterlogging caused major problems for commuters on the Capital’s roads.

Vehicles pass through a waterlogged road in Gurgaon. Monsoon to hit Delhi by July 4. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

According to the traffic police, snarls were reported in the evening primarily from many areas across south Delhi.

“Many stretches like the one between Mahipalpur and the airport, Malviya Nagar to IIT, Badarpur metro station, Ring Road Netaji Subhash Road, Peeragarhi and Mangolpuri saw traffic jams in the evening. In central Delhi, there was heavy traffic at ITO and Mandi House because of a protest by Anganwadi workers at Rajghat,” a traffic police official said.

According to him, waterlogging and signal faults were the primary reasons behind the bumper-to-bumper traffic at many spots. “Many traffic lights stopped working after getting wet in the rain. This aggravated the situation further,” the official said.

Among the worst-hit areas were Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Akshardham, Pitampura, Yamuna Vihar, Lajpat Nagar, ITO and areas around Shivaji Park metro station. Cases of trees falling were also reported from Laxmi Nagar, Kalyan Puri and Shashi Gardens near Mayur Vihar phase-I, which also slowed down traffic.

“Obstruction in traffic in the carriageway from 11 Murti towards Dhaula Kuan due to breakdown of a DTC near Taj Palace Hotel,” it tweeted in the morning hours on Friday.

In back-to-back tweets throughout the day, it further cautioned people to avoid certain stretches such as the stretch between Mehrauli and AIIMS as a tree fell near Adhchini gaon, from Baraf Khana towards Azad Market due to breakdown of a cluster bus near Baraf Khana and from Chirag Delhi towards Khanpur due to breakdown of a DTC on Chirag Delhi Flyover, among others.

In the morning, alert was issued because of heavy traffic in the carriageway from CR Park towards Nehru Place, Prahladpur underpass and in the carriageway from IIT towards Nehru Place due to waterlogging.

Many residents also faced problem due to surge pricing by app-based taxi services. “I tried booking a cab from my office in Barakhamba Road to Indirapuram. What usually takes Rs350 was showing as much as Rs700. The rain brings relief in some aspect but makes commuting difficult and expensive,” Niharika Singh, an Indirapuram resident, said.

The different civic authorities have claimed to have completed desilting. However, the reality, as indicated by the jams caused by waterlogging, shows that the city might be staring at worse days once the monsoon hits.