Commuters wade through
■ 100 mm rainfall recorded in 24 hours at Safdarjung observatory
a waterlogged Ring Road in New Delhi on Tuesday morning as the heavy rains led to extensive waterlogging in several stretches, affecting traffic movement. The met department said 100 mm rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung in the last 24 hours. The Saket Metro station had to be shut as parts of it got flooded. Several markets were inundated and the water entered many homes. However, after the rains, the weather turned pleasant in Delhi.
Vehicular movement came to a screeching halt in the national capital after a heavy downpour on Tuesday morning led to extensive waterlogging at several road stretches across Delhi, including near Pragati Maidan in the Central part of the city and Dhaula Kuan in the southern part, affecting traffic movement.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said 100 mm of rainfall was recorded in the last 24 hours at the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city.
Waterlogging was also seen at Mathura Road, Moti Bagh, Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Rohtak Road, Sangam Vihar, and Kirari among other places.
Due to the waterlogging, traffic crawled at ITO, underneath Moti Bagh Metro station, Dhaula Kuan underpass, near Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, Ring Road near IP Flyover, and Rohtak Road.
Public works department (PWD) officials said waterlogging complaints were being dealt with on priority.
“Morning rain was of high intensity so a few areas of the city witnessed waterlogging. Our field staff is on the ground and we are closely observing the situation,” a PWD official said.
The Delhi traffic police took to Twitter to inform commuters about waterlogging and the areas where traffic movement had been affected.
“Traffic is affected near Qutab Minar Metro station towards 100 Foota carriageway due to waterlogging.
“Traffic coming from Badarpur towards Mehrauli has been diverted towards Mathura Road due to waterlogging near Pul Prahladpur,” the traffic police said.
In further tweets, it said traffic is affected near Okhla Mandi, from Tamil Sangam Marg towards R.K. Puram, and from Hyatt Regency to R.K. Puram Sector-12 near CNG pump.
A senior police officer said traffic has also been affected in Dhaula Kuan.
After the rains, the weather turned pleasant in Delhi. The minimum temperature recorded at the Safdarjung Observatory was 25° Celsius, two notches below normal, the IMD said.
The relative humidity recorded at 8.30 am in the city was 100 per cent, it said.
The weatherman has predicted generally cloudy skies with moderate rain and the possibility of thundershowers accompanied by gusty winds with a speed of 30-40 kmph later in the day.