Water pipeline bursts, affects traffic

NEW DELHI: Thousands of liters of water was wasted as a Delhi Jal Board pipeline bursted near Sarai Kale Khan in South East Delhi on Thursday afternoon. Several gallons of water spread on the road causing heavy traffic snarls on the outer ring road connecting Sarai Kale Khan to ITO and Noida, Akshardham. The water splashed out with force to around 5 meters vertically in the air for hours before the Jal Board officers rectified it. People were stranded as traffic moved at a snail's pace due to waterlogging.

“This pipeline burst at around 3 pm in the afternoon. Though the DJB officials came to rectify the damage, thousands of liters of water has been wasted. I was passing by when I saw this water coming out forcefully from the ground near Indraprastha Park. The DJB should be careful and should not let water waste so often,” said Asif, a commuter near Sarai Kale Khan.

The Traffic policemen were also seen in action with their trousers tucked up till knees and trying to regulate the congestion caused at Kale Khan. “The problem becomes worse with onlookers, people slow down the vehicles to have a better view of the problem. They find lowering their window panes and having a glance outside more comfortable than moving forward and easing the already jammed road,” said Mallik, another commuter.

The traffic police has to resort to its Twitter handle to divert the traffic. “Traffic will remain heavy in the carriageway from Nizamuddin Khatta towards ITO due to the bursting of water pipeline. Kindly avoid the stretch,” Delhi Traffic police tweeted.

Traffic snarls were reported from the stretch as cars were locked bumper to bumper due to the water spreading on the ring road stretch.