Heavy rains lash Delhi for second day; traffic hit, massive waterlogging across city

New Delhi: With heavy rainfalls lashing the national capital for the second consecutive day, many areas of Delhi witnessed waterlogging on Sunday, causing traffic snarls for commuters According to officials, the Public Works Department (PWD) received 38 complaints related to waterlogging till the afternoon. The majority of the complaints pertained to Okhla main road, Kamla Nagar, Nilothi, Ranhola, Kirari, etc.

"The PWD control room has been monitoring the situation of waterlogging through 24X7 CCTV camera surveillance. Apart from CCTV cameras, they also receive complaints from people through email, WhatsApp, social media and phone," a PWD official said.

The Delhi Traffic Police has also been alerting commuters through its official Twitter handle about traffic congestion due to waterlogging in some of the areas of the national capital.

Meanwhile, CPRO Northern Railway Deepak Kumar said a strict watch is being kept to run trains from Delhi area safely because of non-stop heavy rains.

Eight pumps are being run at the Delhi-Sabzi Mandi area and the station trainable area to pump water out of tracks. Trains in Delhi are running at their normal scheduled time.

Delhi recorded 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending 8:30 on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The MeT Office has issued a “yellow” alert, warning of moderate rain which could cause more problems for the residents of Delhi.

With heavy rains battering Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has cancelled the Sunday leave of all government officials and instructed them to be on the field.

He also said Delhi Cabinet ministers and Mayor Shelly Oberoi will be inspecting the "problem areas" of the city.

The traffic police officials said waterlogging has been also reported in areas of Lajpat Nagar, Neb Sarai, Rajdhani Park, Okhla underpass, the road near Delhi Golf Club, near Tikri Kalan metro station and near Apollo Jasola metro station, Bahadurgarh, Nangloi, Najafgarh etc. leading to traffic congestion on these stretches.

Mangolpuri Industrial Area Phase - I and Pocket B Industrial area, Inder Enclave, Block -D Samalka, Phirni Road, Kanjhawala village, Ladpur Majra road, New Friends Colony, Seelampur, Shahdara, Lohe Wali Gali, Hauz Qazi, Chandni Chowk, Jangpura, Bijwasan, were among other areas that witnessed waterlogging, According to the data shared by the Central Control Room of the MCD from 8 am and 4 pm.

Traffic congestion was also reported to be heavy in Kashmere Gate ISBT.

Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Traffic Police said, "Traffic is affected on Rohtak road in both the carriageways from Nangloi metro station towards Rajdhani Park metro station due to waterlogging near Rajdhani Park. Kindly avoid the stretch." Traffic was also affected on Rohtak road due to waterlogging near Tikri Kalan metro station.

"Traffic is affected on Rohtak road in the carriageway from Tikri border towards Mundka due to waterlogging near Tikri Kalan metro station. Kindly avoid the stretch," another tweet from Delhi Traffic Police said.

"Traffic is affected on Mathura Road in the carriageway from Badarpur towards Ashram due to waterlogging near Apollo Jasola metro station. Kindly avoid the stretch," the traffic police tweeted.

Traffic was also affected on Phirni Road in Najafgarh due to waterlogging near Bahadurgarh bus stand and Nangloi, Najafgarh road bus stand.

An interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India, including Delhi which experienced the season's first "very heavy" rainfall.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's primary weather station, recorded 153 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, the highest since the 24-hour rainfall of 169.9 mm on July 25, 1982, a senior IMD official said.

It was the third-highest single-day rainfall for July since 1958, it added.

The heavy rain submerged parks, underpasses, markets and even hospital premises, and caused chaos on the roads.

Pictures and videos of commuters wading through knee-deep water flooded social media platforms, raising concerns about the efficiency of the city's drainage infrastructure.

Tree uprooting incidents were reported in Ashok Vihar Phase -3, Begampur, Jhilmil Colony, Timarpur, Defence Colony, Karol Bagh, Dwarka, Sarai Rohilla, Preet Vihar, IP Estate, Daryaganj, Pitampura, Alipur, Shakur Basti, Naya Bazar, Patel Nagar, Govindpuri, Wazirpur, Bhajanpura, Kirti Nagar and Govindpuri.

Strong winds and showers also caused disruptions in power and internet connectivity in several areas.

With the showers bringing back the familiar scenes of waterlogged roads and long lines of vehicles stuck in the deluge, residents expressed anguish over Delhi's "poor drainage system".