Portion of road caves in, massive traffic snarls as rains pound Delhi

A portion of a road caved in as incessant spell of light to moderate rain drenched Delhi for the second consecutive day on Thursday leading to waterlogging and uprooting of trees that caused massive traffic snarls in many parts of the capital.

The weather department has issued a 'yellow' alert for Friday, cautioning people about moderate rain at most places in the city.

The continuous downpour through the day caused a chock-a-block situation on various intersections and key stretches of the city, sending the traffic haywire.

The rains also led to a sharp spike in cab and autorickshaw fares, as they manned their vehicles through waterlogged roads and obstructions caused by uprooted trees.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi received three complaints related to waterlogging from Fatehpur Beri, Sangam Vihar, Tikri Kala village, while there were seven complaints pertaining to uprooting of trees.

The Delhi Traffic Police helpline said they received 23 calls related to traffic jam, seven regarding waterlogging and two related to uprooting of trees from different parts of Delhi.

Calls were received regarding traffic jam at 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 Gurugram, officials said.

They said waterlogging was also reported from the AIIMS flyover, stretch between Rajdhani Park to Mundka, Nigambodh Ghat, near Mayapuri flyover among others.

Two incidents of uprooting of trees were also reported from Burari and Abai Marg here, they added.

The Delhi Traffic Police 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 fresh spells of rains just before the withdrawal of monsoon from the National Capital Region will help cover the large deficit (46 per cent till September 22 morning) to some extent, according to the MeT department.

It would also keep the air clean and the temperature in check, it said.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal.

The 24-hour average air quality index settled at 66 (satisfactory category) at 4 pm, improving from 109 on Wednesday.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, gauged 31.2 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.

The weather stations at Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar received 56.5 mm, 27.4 mm, 16.8 mm and 45.8 mm of precipitation during this period.

The Delhi University area, Jafarpur, Najafgarh, Pusa and Mayur Vihar recorded 16.5 mm, 18 mm, 29 mm, 24.5 mm and 25.5 mm of rainfall, respectively.

The Safdarjung Observatory has recorded 58.5 mm rainfall against a normal of 108.5 mm in September so far (till Thursday morning).

It had recorded 41.6 mm rainfall in August, the lowest in at least 14 years, due to the absence of any favourable weather system in northwest India.

Overall, Delhi has recorded 405.3 mm rainfall against a normal of 621.7 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season historically sets in.

The IMD on Tuesday said the southwest monsoon had withdrawn from parts of southwest Rajasthan and adjoining Kutch, three days after the normal date of September 17.

Usually, it takes around a week after its withdrawal from west Rajasthan for the monsoon to retreat from Delhi.

The withdrawal of southwest monsoon is declared if there has been no rainfall in the region for five days along with the development of anti-cyclonic circulation and water vapour imagery indicates dry weather conditions over the region.