Motorists have narrow escape on DND Flyway as hoardings fall in wind

The high winds that swept across Delhi-NCR on Wednesday evening caused hoardings to collapse on the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) Flyway at two places. No one was injured

The high winds that swept across Delhi-NCR on Wednesday evening caused hoardings to collapse on the Delhi Noida Direct (DND) Flyway at two places. No one was injured in the mishap.

HT Image

The hoardings collapsed around 5.30pm during the thunderstorm and the winds. “One hoarding collapsed on the side that leads towards Noida while another came crashing on the side going towards Delhi. Vehicles were trapped between the two mishap sites, but no vehicle was damaged or anyone injured. The debris on the Delhi side has been cleared and work is on clean the other side as well,” deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Sankalp Sharma said.

Following the incident, authorities shut the DND flyway and diverted traffic on both sides towards other roads.

“The traffic was diverted to Chilla border on both sides to facilitate work to clear the debris. There was congestion at the Mayur Vihar area but normal traffic flow was restored soon,” Kumar Ranvijay Singh, additional DCP, zone 1, said.

However, commuters claimed they were stuck in traffic for hours.

“Even if police diverted traffic towards Mayur Vihar, we will first have to cross the toll. But because of the debris blocking the road, we were stick on DND for hours. They closed off the flyway, but those of us who were already on the highway can neither turn back nor move forward. It’s a miracle that no one was injured in the collapse,” Anil Arora, a commuter from Delhi to Noida, said.

Strong winds and rain lashed Delhi-NCR on Wednesday evening, and the weatherman said it is expected to continue for another few days, keeping the rising mercury under check.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the current trough line or the low pressure line passes through Pakistan to Bay of Bengal via Rajasthan, which coupled with a western disturbance led to the thundery activities and winds on Wednesday. The activities like high winds, rains or thundershowers will continue in the region.

“We expect the maximum temperature to fall from Thursday till June 16 at least,” Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre (RWMC), IMD, said.

Till the rain came, Wednesday was the warmest June day so far, with a maximum temperature of 41.5 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season’s average, and four degrees more than the previous day’s 37.5 degrees. However, the mercury fell by four degrees around 5pm after the thunderstorm.

The storm knocked out power in almost all areas of the district. The transformers in sectors 39 and 126 were also reportedly damaged in the rain and squall. Vijay Singh, a resident of Sector 41, said, “Despite generating maximum revenue in terms of electricity bills, we are destined to live with faulty power transmission lines and electric poles. The maintenance is also poor.”

Virendra Nath Singh, chief engineer, Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited said restoration of power is being done on war footing. “Most of the areas have got electricity back. And, within a few hours, supply will be restored to other areas well,” he said.