NEW DELHI: Heavy rainfall in the early hours of Monday led to severe waterlogging in several parts of Delhi, causing significant disruptions to traffic on major routes. South Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan to Ring Road and the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) Flyway were among the hardest hit.
The Delhi Traffic Police issued multiple alerts warning commuters of the traffic disruptions. Traffic on NH-48 from Dhaula Kuan to Mahipalpur, in both directions, was severely affected due to waterlogging, they said.
Another alert added, “Traffic is affected on Ring Road in the carriageway from DND towards Moolchand underpass due to waterlogging near Gupta market, Lajpat Nagar.”
Additionally, the Okhla underpass, a crucial link between Noida and Kalkaji/Govindpuri, was heavily waterlogged, leading to further traffic snarls. The Outer Ring Road (ORR) was also impacted in both directions between Savitri flyover and Paras Chowk.
Waterlogging disrupted traffic on the route from Safdarjung to Mehrauli along the Ring Road and on MB Road towards Mehrauli from Badarpur.
The Public Works Department received 30 complaints regarding waterlogging and 15 about trees being uprooted. Similarly, many commuters and residents also complained to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi about waterlogging and tree felling.
Amit Singh, a south Delhi resident, said vehicles were moving at a snail’s pace near Safdarjung and from Dhaula Kuan to Mahipalpur.
“One can see waterlogging at several areas of south Delhi, leading to such traffic chaos during peak hours,” he said.
A commuter travelling from Gurugram in NCR to central Delhi said there was a massive traffic jam at Mahipalpur on the road leading to Dhaula Kuan.
Water supply disrupted in parts of Delhi
Water supply in parts of the capital was either completely cut off or available only at low pressure on Monday as a major water leakage took place at Kamla Market, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) said in a statement.
“The shutdown of Wazirabad WTP Phase-II and Chandrawal WTP is to be done up to 12:30 am on September 2 to attend to the leakage at Kamla Market on Asaf Ali Road,” the statement said. The affected areas include Karol Bagh, Patel Nagar, Sadar Bazar, Rajinder Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Tri Nagar, the Cantonment area, parts of New Delhi Municipal Council areas, and nearby localities.
The DJB advised residents in these areas to request tankers from their respective water emergency centres or the DJB’s Central Control Room.