NEW DELHI: As overnight rainfall inundated parts of Noida, residents faced severe waterlogging in areas including Sector 16, Sector 62, and Sector 93 during peak office hours, stranding commuters and slowing traffic. Residents of few housing societies also reported power outages due to flooding. For Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert for Delhi, warning of extremely heavy rainfall, while an orange alert was sounded for parts of Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut and Gurugram.
The worst affected were office commuters with Sectors 16 and 18 reportedly waterlogged. One of the commuters, Kumar Surya, a media professional, said, ‘The monsoon has just arrived and the city is already struggling. Travelling from Noida to Delhi felt like a battle. Riding a bike was near impossible, and cab fares on platforms like Ola and Uber shot up to more than double the usual rates.” He said, “A trip that usually costs around Rs 110–120 was priced at Rs 300–350. To make matters worse, long traffic jams brought roads to a crawl.”
Similar conditions were witnessed outside the Noida Sector 62 metro station. Commuters were seen wading through the waterlogged streets, and the water also reportedly seeped inside the station.
Another commuter, Dia Negi, who stepped outside the Sector 62 metro station flustered in the rain in the morning, said, “Due to the rain, we couldn’t reach our office, even though it is just 6-7 minutes walking distance from the metro station.”
“However, our office was very supportive as they gave us the option of working from home,” she added. Describing the scene outside her residence she said, “Many people were seen walking across the street with their pants rolled up and shoes in their hands”.
On the other hand, many societies in Noida also suffered from waterlogging outside their premises. Rakesh Sharma, a senior citizen living in the Super MIG Express View apartment at Sector 93, said that stepping outside since morning has become a struggle for residents. He further complained about the failure in the electricity supply.
“Electricity has been gone since 6 am, and even till evening it has not been restored. It came back for barely two to two-and-a-half minutes before going off again. We’ve been sitting in the dark,” he said. He further mentioned that the electricity company says the panel box in that area is completely submerged. “They told us power can only be restored once the water recedes,” Sharma added.
Another resident, Ranjita, said, “Domestic workers are scared to enter because the area is waterlogged. They fear there could be an electric current in the water since the panel box is submerged. There is no pump installed to remove the water. Some authority employees are trying to clear the drain, but they are unable to do much now.” Sharma added, “If the drains had been cleaned properly before the rains, this situation would not have arisen.”
Red alert for Delhi, orange for Noida and Gurugram
For Thursday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a red alert for all parts of Delhi, warning of extremely heavy rainfall, while an orange alert was sounded for parts of Ghaziabad, Noida, Meerut and Gurugram.
