NEW DELHI: Torrential rain battered the city on Thursday, inundating roads, disrupting traffic and leaving commuters stranded for hours on several key stretches, as civic agencies attempted to attend to complaints regarding traffic congestion, waterlogging and fallen trees.
Sangam Vihar was among the worst-affected areas, with roads submerged and traffic movement severely disrupted. Waterlogging was also reported from Sainik Farms, Shastri Park, Rohtak Road, Tughlaqabad, near the Red Fort and parts of ITO, where inundated roads brought vehicles to a crawl.
Heavy congestion was reported from several key arterial roads, including Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, Shaheed Jeet Singh Marg, Ber Sarai, the JNU Gate-Jia Sarai stretch, NH-48 between Dhaula Kuan and the Rajokri flyover towards Gurugram, MB Road, Kalindi Kunj, Najafgarh, Rajdhani Park-Mundka, ITO-Laxmi Nagar, Akshardham, the CWG Village-Nizamuddin Bridge-Sarai Kale Khan corridor, and the Delhi-Dehradun motorway.
Commuters took to social media to express anguish over traffic snarls, with several saying journeys that usually take a few minutes stretched to over 45 minutes or even hours. Many also flagged malfunctioning traffic signals and the absence of traffic personnel at some bottlenecks.
Traffic movement near the Green Park metro station, Yusuf Sarai market and AIIMS hospital also remained slow during peak hours.
The congestion extended to roads leading to the Indira Gandhi International Airport, prompting major airlines to advise passengers to leave early for the airport in view of slow-moving traffic due to heavy rain and waterlogging in parts of the city.
