Traffic crawls on rainy Wednesday; civic agencies' claim of silting drains falls flat

Continuous rainfall on Wednesday led to waterlogging in several parts of the city, causing traffic to crawl on all major stretches.

Continuous rainfall on Wednesday led to waterlogging in several parts of the city, causing traffic to crawl on all major stretches.

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On Wednesday, the city recorded 8.5mm rainfall which led to waterlogging at many places. The roads most affected were the Noida Link Road, Outer Ring Road, Vikas Marg, Laxmi Nagar, Rao Tula Ram Road and Mathura Road.

But the traffic police said there wasn't any major crisis. "Minor disruptions were reported from across the city. Overall, it was a smooth day as we did not get many calls regarding waterlogging leading to traffic jams unlike Monday," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

But with two days of continuous rains, all claims of desilting of drains by the three civic corporations and public works department (PWD) have fallen flat as several colonies have been inundated with water.

"The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) had claimed that our drains have been desilted completely. But the storm water drains of our colony are still full of silt and plastic waste which has led to waterlogging. The civic agencies have done nothing. Moreover, their sweepers are nowhere to be seen," complained Shikhar Vashisht, a resident of Amar Colony.

The ward is represented by SDMC Mayor Savita Gupta. Before the monsoons had arrived, the SDMC had claimed that all drains in its area have been desilted.

In east Delhi too, there were traffic snarls due to waterlogging. "The entire Vikas Marg stretch was clogged. It took me more than an hour to reach Preet Vihar from ITO. Usually, it takes me just about 30 minutes. Traffic signals too weren't working," said Manya Atwal, a resident of Preet Vihar.

Traffic jams were also reported from Kashmere Gate, Model Town and Azadpur.

The Met department has predicted heavy rainfall throughout the week which is likely to spell more trouble for Delhiites.