Morning rain bogs down traffic

Flooding in various parts of the Capital led to traffic snarls that forced motorists to be stuck on roads for long periods. People on way to offices were the worst off, caught as they were in showers that began in the morning and continued till afternoon.

Flooding in various parts of the Capital led to traffic snarls that forced motorists to be stuck on roads for long periods.

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People on way to offices were the worst off, caught as they were in showers that began in the morning and continued till afternoon.

Potholes on major roads of the city were mostly to blame for the traffic jams. The movement of road vehicles was severely affected because of wide and deep potholes under the Jasola-Apollo and Sarita Vihar Metro stations on Mathura Road and its service road in the carriageway from Badarpur to Ashram. The potholes slowed down traffic in the Wazirpur industrial area, Central Market and Ashok Vihar.

Many areas in south Delhi were flooded. But commuters suffered as there were no special provisions made for them.

Traffic had to be diverted from Lal Kuan to Maa Anandmayi Marg on MB Road because of flooding under a railway bridge near the Badarpur border.

Flooding caused many vehicles to break down on the roads, causing more problems for motorists.

The rain helped in exposing the utter lack of preparedness of the civic bodies, which registered 36 cases of flooding. At least 18 trees fell and six walls collapsed. The heavy downpour also washed away tall claims made by the civic agencies of cleaning storm drains in the city.

Flooding was reported from areas such as Green Park, Vasant Kunj, Malviya Nagar, RK Puram, Lado Sarai, Hauz Khas market, Chattarpur and Sarai Kale Khan.

The civic agencies, which employed their staff to clean 1,500 storm drains, had said the cleaning would be carried out throughout the year.

This year the public works department (PWD), too, had carried out de-silting on its own.

The PWD and the three civic corporations are locked in a war of words over the flooding on roads. The PWD has claimed that the civic authorities did not clean the drains that connect the colonies to the main roads.

The traffic department has issued alerts on social networking sites and its website asking people to avoid rain-affected routes.