Sunday dawned bright and sunny, but a heavy downpour lashed the capital in the afternoon, leading to the familiar scenes of waterlogging of areas
NEW DELHI: Sunday dawned bright and sunny, but a heavy downpour lashed the capital in the afternoon, leading to the familiar scenes of waterlogging of areas, flooded roads, and hours-long traffic dislocations. Weather officials forecast more showers for the next two days.
“There is a possibility of heavy rainfall or thundershowers in the next 24 hours," the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Sunday afternoon.
While many enjoyed the rain which colled the air, others were unhappy as the rains washed off their weekend plans. No outings, no visting, no shopping.
”All my plans for the evening are shattered with this rain. Maybe, now we will sit at home and settle for tea and snacks,” said Amit, a bank executive.
The heavy downpour left the capital with traffic snarls on waterlogged roads. Long lines of vehicles snailed their way on almost all major roads of the city. The traffic police blamed civic agencies for potholes and insufficient drainage that led to the traffic jams.
Waterlogging was reported at ITO, Lakshmi Nagar, Patparganj, Janakpuri, Vasant Kunj, Hauz Khas, Munirka and Daryaganj, among many other places.
“Thank god it's Sunday, otherwise this rain would have again led to very heavy traffic snarls like I faced last week when I reached home after three hours instead of one,” said Smriti Singh, a call centre employee.
Remembering the havoc of last week, corporate executive Vineet Jain said, “The situation is better as it is raining in only some parts of the city whereas last week rain had made the traffic crawl on the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway. It took me three hours to reach the India Gate from Gurgaon.”
Though the jams caused delays on almost all major arteries in the city, the worst hit areas included Bhogal, Ashram, Mathura Road, Lajpat Nagar to Moolchand flyover, Andrews Ganj, Okhla, Kalkaji, Modi Mill Flyover, Mehrauli Road, Munirka Chowk, Vikas Marg, NH-8, MB Road, MG Road, Aurobindo Marg, Dhaula Kuan and Shankar Road.
“The main problem is that the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) does not respond to distress calls of water logging and the place is in a mess till the rainwater gets drained out. We are doing our best to provide maximum space for traffic,” said a senior traffic police official.
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