Daylong showers trigger waterlogging, traffic jams
SINKING FEELING Commuters face a harrowing time as dysfunctional traffic lights, broken down vehicles and fallen trees add to chaos; south Delhi and parts of central Delhi worst affected, vehicles ply at average speed of 10km/hr
NEWDELHI: Incessant rains in Delhi throughout Friday resulted in waterlogged roads, dysfunctional traffic lights, broken down vehicles and fallen trees – all of which left the traffic in a mess.
While chaos was reported across the city, the worst affected roads were in south Delhi and parts of central Delhi. Traffic police officers estimated that the average speed of vehicles on Friday was barely 10 km/hr on most of the affected roads till late in the evening hours.
But commuters complained of being stuck in massive jams throughout the day, not just in the evenings.
Though, police claimed that the traffic hardly came to a complete halt, many commuters complained that they were stranded for long periods.
Waterlogging was reported in many south Delhi areas such as Nehru Place, Sarai Kale Khan, CR Park, Greater Kailash, Adhchini, Govindpuri and Malviya Nagar since Friday afternoon.
“A distance of five kilometres on the BRT corridor, which hardly takes 10-15 minutes to cover, took over an hour to travel,” said Amit Singh, a motorist. A water logged stretch of road also ensured that commuters travelling a four-kilometre distance from Ashram Chowk to in Nehru Place took over an hour.
In many parts of the city, almost knee-deep water caused vehicles to breakdown, causing gridlocks and chaos. The problem got complicated when many motorists, particularly bikers, choosing to cut through traffic or travelling on the wrong direction to beat the jams.
Buses breaking down resulted in jams in places such as Kalindi Kunj, Dhaula Kuan and north Delhi’s Pul Bangash area. At places, it took the authorities over two hours j ust to remove stranded vehicles from the roads and clearing traffic.
In many parts of the city, such as Aurobindo Marg, Hauz Khas Enclave, Greater Kailash, Kalkaji and KG Marg, fallen trees or branches i nterrupted traffic movements.
Dysfunctional traffic signals in places such as Lala Lajpat Rai Marg and Greater Kailash contributed to jams in Outer Ring Road and BRT corridor respectively, said traffic police officers.