Relief turns into rivers of woe as Delhi gets drenched

A rainy morning that initially spelt respite from the incessant heat quickly culminated into pools of woe for commuters with waterlogged roads and consequent traffic jams confronting Delhiites on most arterial stretches and routes here on Saturday.

According to the MeT Department, rain started at 5.30 a.m. and continued for about seven hours. Maximum intensity was between 8:30 am and 10.30 am. The Safdarjung observatory recorded 43.4 mm of rain while 41.66 mm of rainfall was recorded at the Palam observatory till 8:30 am.

People preferred taking the Delhi Metro instead of venturing onto arterial roads to avoid traffic but their luck failed there too. Significant congestion was reported aboard trains and station serving as major junctions on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s network such as Rajiv Chowk and Kashmere Gate.

“I thought taking the metro was a good idea given the waterlogged roads and congestion on most major routes, but that wasn’t much of a relief either,” said Dinesh Kumar, 30, a private executive.

Mr. Kumar complained of massive congestion on the Blue Line, especially between 10 a.m. and noon with a significant number of two-wheeler owners and those who usually preferred taking public buses switching to the Metro.

Meanwhile, areas like IGNOU Road, Sainik Farms and Malviya Nagar faced long traffic jams due to waterlogging. Rama Park, an area in the South West district of Delhi, faced major problems because of road maintenance work.

According to the Public Works Department (PWD), most waterlogging complaints were from Moolchand Flyover, Aurobindo Marg Crossing, Andrews Ganj, the Lajpat Nagar Metro Station, Pumposh Enclave, Modi Mill towards Kalkaji, IP Flyover, Timarpur Crossing, the Main Burari Road, Chhatrashal Stadium and the Azadpur underpass among others.

“Every flyover that I took on my commute from Noida to Connaught Place was waterlogged. While I could make do given the fact that I’m in a car, I'm sure many bikers must have been stranded across the city,” said Krishna Sharma, 35, a businessman.

Among those who bore the brunt of the rain were roadside vendors such as Ganesh Das, a roadside hawker dealing in peanuts. “I returned to work expecting to make up for a week’s absence just to get my newly-purchased stock drenched. I was sleeping when it started raining. By the time I woke up, half my stock was destroyed,” Mr. Das complained.

(The writer is an intern with The Hindu)