Rain holds up traffic in Ghaziabad as main roads disappear under water

Three hours of heavy downpour early Wednesday morning threw life out of gear in Ghaziabad. Waterlogging and traffic snarls were witnessed on all arterial and internal roads.

Three hours of heavy downpour early Wednesday morning threw life out of gear in Ghaziabad. Waterlogging and traffic snarls were witnessed on all arterial and internal roads.

Heavy traffic was witnessed at the Mohan Nagar intersection till 5pm on Wednesday. (Skib Ali/HT Photo)

Commuters moving towards Noida, Delhi and Gurgaon were stuck on the NH-24. “I sent a message to my office that ‘it is raining cats and dogs’ and I will be working from home. It took me four hours to reach Gurgaon from Indirapuram on Tuesday,” Sanjeev Sethi of Indirapuram said.

Traffic officials reported smooth traffic flow by noon but by 5pm, traffic came to a halt again at the Mohan Nagar intersection.

“The narrow roads and construction work at the Mohan Nagar intersection add to traffic woes whenever it rains. It gets particularly difficult for two-wheelers to wade through nearly one-foot deep water,” Ankit Ahuja of Vasundhara, who works at Raj Nagar, Ghaziabad, said.

Rajesh Kumar, the superintendent of police (traffic), said, “As the underpasses have been filled with water, all traffic has diverted to NH-24. Our traffic personnel are present at the intersections to regulate traffic.”

Residents said that daily services were also disrupted due to the rain.

“The milkman and newspaper boy deliver the items around 7.45am. However, none of them showed up on Wednesday as the heavy rain had blocked all roads in the city,” Namita Thakur of Shipra Riviera in Indirapuram said.

Residents also complained of water flow into their homes.

“Though our house is at least three feet above the ground, by 9am, water started entering our home. It was mixed with the filthy drainwater and we had to constantly keep wiping it away,” Anuradha Singh of Sector 16 said.

However, Ghaziabad Development Authority’s (GDA) officials said that there is no fault in the drainage system.

“Since the downpour was heavy, waterlogging was bound to happen. The water started to recede two hours after the rain and by 2pm, the roads were clear,” Chakresh Jain, GDA’s executive engineer, said.

RK Yadav, GMC’s executive engineer, water works department, said, “We are quick to send our water pumping systems to get the drainage system working in areas where the problem is aggravated. However, the need did not arise as the drainage system is in proper condition.”