NEW DELHI: Two road cave-ins, waterlogging in at least 70 locations, traffic jams in almost all parts of the city and flooding of low-lying areas. This was the result of the third day of heavy rainfall in the city, which belied all claims by all agencies that they were prepared for the monsoon.
A portion of Ashok Road in central Delhi and the Mahipalpur bypass road caved in after about three hours of rainfall. According to the Delhi Traffic Police, the cave-in near 10 Ashok Road was probably because the storm water drain sank.
“The extent of damage is around 10 feet. Barricading has been done at Windsor Place and the Andhra Pradesh Bhawan. Traffic will not be allowed until the stretch is repaired,” a police official said.
The Mahipalpur bypass road cave-in was about 25 meter long near the office of the National Crime Records Bureau.
“The service lane to National Highway-8 near the NCRB office towards Vasant Kunj and Mahipalpur is affected. Traffic towards Vasant Kunj has been stopped from the NCRB point on this service lane,” the police said.
The heavy rains on day three of the monsoon inundated low-lying areas and affected traffic movement across the city.
Traffic movement from Zakhira flyover to Inder Lok, Mundka to Nangloi Chowk (both carriageways), Zamrudpur to Moolchand near Central School, Fateh Pur Rajnagar near SSN and Mahipal Pur to Ullan Bator Marg, M.B Road near Kali Mata Mandir ,Ashram Chowk and Sarai Julena were affected.
Traffic was closed from Ring Road to Bhairon Road because of the ongoing work by Larsen and Tourbo (L&T) on Bhairon Marg and waterlogging at the World Health Organisation office on Ring Road.
“Sarai Kale Khan to IP flyover was also closed due to the downpour and the traffic coming from Ashram Chowk was diverted to the DND Mayur Vihar, Noida Link Road and Pustha Road. Traffic towards central and north Delhi from Ashram were advised to take DND, Mayur Vihar, Akshardham, Yamuna Pustha and the Geeta Colony flyover,” the traffic police said.
Harassed by the traffic snarls, many commuters took to Twitter and Facebook to vent out their anger. Some residents also shared photos and videos of the rain water gushing inside their homes.
“I was traveling from Noida to Chanakya Puri and it usually takes 30-35 minutes during non-peak hours but because of heavy traffic, I took one hour and 15 minutes on the Ashram-Lajpat Nagar route going towards South Extension,” said Sachin, a Twitter user.
Another posted a video of the Green Park residential colony in a pool of rain water. Residents of Safdurjung Enclave also complained of waterlogging. Waterlogging was reported from 46 residential colonies in the city.
Python enters house in Okhla
A five-feet-long Indian rock python entered the bathroom of a house in Delhi’s Okhla area following heavy rains, triggering panic among family members.
The family contacted an NGO, Wildlife SOS, on their emergency helpline number, following which a rescue team took the python to safety.
The snake was exhausted and is currently under observation, the wildlife NGO said.