Rain stalls traffic in the capital, yet again
By IANSThursday, August 19, 2010
NEW DELHI - The pleasant Thursday morning soon turned into a nightmare for Delhiites when it started raining cats and dogs. With half the city dug up, waterlogging inevitably brought the city to a standstill.
According to a traffic official at the helpline, traffic in most parts of the city was crawling because of the waterlogging.
The officegoers faced the brunt of the problem.
“I could not find even a single auto. The auto drivers were refusing to drive for the fear of a breakdown of their vehicle. I had to take a taxi, which was expensive. I paid almost triple the amount. Even after paying a bomb, I reached at least an hour late,” said Divya Channa, a bank employee, who was on her way from Defence colony to R.K. Puram area of the city.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had so far registered 25 complaints of waterlogging.
“The civic authorities are visiting the areas from where the complaints are being reported. Most of the complaints are coming from central and south Delhi,” an MCD official said.
According to the traffic official, huge traffic jams were reported from Dhaula Kuan underpass and Greater Kailash-2. Traffic moved at snail’s place at Maya Puri Chowk, Loha Mandi, in front of Birla Mandir, Purana Qila road to Mathura road, Punjabi Bagh, Badarpur to Sarita Vihar, ISBT to Rajghat, Modi Mills to Kalkaji and ITO.
The Noida-Delhi DND flyover was also closed due to heavy downpour.
“The whole city is submerged. I am stuck in a jam since the last one hour on Mathura Road. The traffic is moving extremely slowly,” said Ashish Trehan, an MNC employee.
“The pedestrians and two-wheeler riders are having it even worse. The roads are full of cars and other heavy transport, leaving no room for the pedestrians to walk. The two-wheeler riders are squeezed between the big vehicles, leave aside the continuous splashes of dirty water on them from the cars passing by,” said Uma Biswas, a media professional stuck in a traffic jam in ITO.
The India Meteorological Department warned of more rains Thursday in many areas of the capital city.
