Road caves in, massive traffic jams as rain lashes Delhi

A portion of a road caved in as incessant rains pounded Delhi leading to waterlogging and uprooting of trees that caused massive traffic snarls in many parts of the capital on Thursday.

The Delhi Traffic Police Helpline received 23 calls related to traffic jam, seven regarding waterlogging and two related to uprooting of trees from various parts of the city, officials said.

Calls related traffic jam from Khajuri Chawk, Goyala Dairy, Yamuna Bridge, Outer Ring Road Paschim Vihar, Rohini Sector-8, Hanuman Mandir Pusa Road, Azad Market, Dwarka flyover, Dhaula Kuan to Gurgaon among others were received following the rains, officials said.

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Waterlogging was also reported from AIIMS flyover, Rajdhani Park to Mundka, Nigambodh Ghat, near Mayapuri flyover among others, they said, adding that uprooting of trees were reported from Burari and Abai Marg here.

The Delhi Traffic Police also took to Twitter to guide commuters about the traffic situation.

"Traffic is affected on the carriageway from Mahipal Pur Red Light towards Mehrauli due to waterlogging. Traffic is affected on Phirni Road and Tooda Mandi Red Light, Najafgarh due to waterlogging," it tweeted.

"Kindly avoid travelling on Mahatma Gandhi Marg from Moti Bagh Junction towards Dhaula Kuan due to waterlogging near Shanti Niketan," it said in another tweet.

A senior police officer said traffic was heavy on the stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Gurugram and near Satya Niketan in southwest Delhi.

A portion of a road caved in near Satya Niketan and only two lanes of the four are functional due to which heavy traffic was reported on the stretch, the officer said.

Commuters also took to the microblogging site to complain about the traffic situation.

"Massive Traffic jam from Hamdard Nagar to Ambedkar Nagar Bus Depot," one of the users said.

Another used said, "No traffic police seen anywhere to guide motorists stuck at various locations due to heavy rain - one DTC bus breakdown on Dwarka Palam flyover - stuck for 45 min around 1 pm. Now, waterlogging in Dwarka underpass under airport light - stuck for another 45 minutes."

The IMD has issued an 'orange alert', cautioning people about sporadic heavy rain which could reduce visibility, disrupt traffic and damage kutcha roads and vulnerable structures.

Light rain may occur in parts of Delhi over the next two to three days, it said.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, has recorded just 58.5 mm of rainfall against a normal of 108.5 mm in September so far.