Waterlogged roads result in snarls, cab prices hit the roof

Though rain brought relief to Delhiites from the sweltering heat on Friday, traffic jams due to waterlogging caused major problems for commuters.

According to the traffic police, snarls were reported in the evening from many areas across south Delhi.

“Many stretches like the one between Mahipalpur and the airport, Malviya Nagar to IIT, Badarpur Metro station, Ring Road Netaji Subhash Road, Peeragarhi and Mangolpuri saw traffic jams in the evening. In central Delhi, there was heavy traffic at ITO and Mandi House because of a protest by Anganwadi workers at Rajghat,” a traffic police official said.

According to him, waterlogging and signal faults were the reasons behind the bumper-tobumper traffic at many spots. “Many traffic lights stopped working after the rain. This aggravated the situation further,” the official said.

Among the worst-hit areas were Mayur Vihar Phase-1, Akshardham, Pitampura, Yamuna Vihar, Lajpat Nagar, ITO and areas around Shivaji Park metro station. Cases of trees falling were also reported from Laxmi Nagar, Kalyan Puri and Shashi Gardens near Mayur Vihar phase-I, which also slowed down traffic.

Traffic was also thrown out of gear due to breakdown of buses. Delhi Traffic Police issued regular alerts through its official Twitter handle, asking commuters to avoid certain areas where traffic was obstructed.

Meanwhile, residents also faced problems due to surge pricing by app-based taxi services. “I tried booking a cab from my office on Barakhamba Road to Indirapuram. What usually takes ₹350 was showing as ₹700. The rain brings relief but makes commuting difficult and expensive,” Niharika Singh, an Indirapuram resident, said.

The different civic authorities have claimed to have completed de-silting. However, the reality, as indicated by the jams caused by waterlogging, shows that the city might be staring at worse days once the monsoon hits.