Delhi crawls as many stretches see waterlogging, flights also affected
NEW DELHI: The heavy downpour disrupted road as well as air traffic in Delhi on Thursday. With most of the roads, flyovers and underpasses flooded, the city literally crawled. The traffic congestion made commuters late for their work.
There were reports of waterlogging close to Pragati Maidan, on Delhi-Meerut Expressway close to Vinod Nagar, Pul Prahaladpur underpass, IP Estate in front of the WHO building, under the Zakhira flyover, near Jahangirpuri Metro station, Loni Road roundabout, Azadpur market underpass, AIIMS underpass, Ring Road, Barapullah corridor, Sarai Kale Khan, Chilla border and the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway.
According to the MCD, waterlogging was reported from 32 locations across the capital. Low-lying areas, heavy rainfall and blockage of mouth of drains were the main reasons cited by the corporation. Traffic at Pul Pahladpur was stopped to ensure nobody was washed away, as such incidents had been reported at the spot in the previous years.
As per the PWD norm, if water crosses the knee- level, then vehicular traffic is restricted to avoid any casualty. The Public Works Department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi deployed their teams on the ground to control the situation. “We have more than 250 teams on the ground to pump out the water at the waterlogged areas. A control room was also set up at the headquarters to look at the situation,” informed a PWD official.
Airlines requested passengers to check about flight status before coming to the airport as several flights were delayed because of poor weather. Two flights to Delhi were diverted. An Air India flight was diverted to Amritsar while an Indigo flight was diverted to Jaipur.