When US secretary of state Kerry got stuck in Delhi traffic due to heavy rains
US secretary of state John Kerry arrived in New Delhi on a wet Monday evening and there were reports that his cavalcade got stuck in a traffic jam on a road from the IGI airport.
US secretary of state John Kerry and Delhi lieutenant-governor Najeeb Jung were among thousands of commuters who were stuck in traffic after a smart spell of rain in the national capital and Gurgaon on Monday evening.
The traffic holdup brought back memories of last month’s deluge in Gurgaon, where some areas went 6ft under water then.
Kerry, who arrived here for an Indo-US strategic and commercial dialogue, was stuck in a monster gridlock near the airport. He was on his way to a hotel in Chanakyapuri in south Delhi.
Though there was no official confirmation of the incident but officials at the traffic control room admitted that the roads to the city from airport were “clogged”.
“We have no such specific information regarding Kerry getting stuck in a traffic jam but yes we have several complaints of massive traffic jam on the roads leading to the city from the airport,” a traffic department official told IANS.
Journalist Nicholas Wadhams, who is accompanying Kerry on his tour to New Delhi, tweeted: “John Kerry stuck in traffic like everyone else on wet New Delhi night.”
Miles-long snarls were reported from several locations in Delhi, which the weather office said received 21.6mm of rain during the day.
A Delhi traffic police officer said maximum chaos was recorded during the evening rush hour when people were heading home from work. In south Delhi, the situation got aggravated after two DTC buses broke down near the busy Ashram flyover, slowing down traffic movement.
“Roads were waterlogged and there were road restrictions because of VIP movements in central Delhi. These added to the chaos,” the officer said.
Several roads were out of bounds for general traffic in the afternoon as Myanmar president Htin Kyaw visited landmarks in the city such as Rajghat.
Met officials said rain will continue through Tuesday.
(With inputs from IANS)