Delhi: Heavy rain affects normal life; traffic snarls at several places

New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) The heavy downpour in the national capital on Wednesday brought some respite from the summer heat but disrupted the normal life.

As per reports, the rain caused massive traffic jams in various parts of Delhi leaving commuters stranded in long queues of cars at major roads like ITO junction among others.

Some roads that witnessed massive traffic jams were Barapullah flyover towards DND flyover, Dwarka-Palam road towards airport, Samalkha Crossing towards Kapashera Border, Palam flyover to Sadar Bazar metro station road, Delhi Cantt, Timarpur among several others.

Apart from traffic jams, water-logging was also reported from all the low-lying areas of the city.

The Delhi Traffic Police issued several advisories for the commuters to avoid certain stretches that were submerged in the rain water.

“Traffic is affected at Kapashera Chowk due to waterlogging. Kindly avoid the stretch,” the Traffic Police said.

Traffic was also affected on Najafgarh Road near Tooda Mandi due to waterlogging.

A bus broke down near Dwarka Mor Metro Station affecting the traffic in the carriageway from Dwarka Mor towards Uttam Nagar.

In south Delhi also, the traffic was disrupted at Aurobindo stretch from INA to AIIMS, Moolchand Underpass on Ring Road, Aurobindo Marg from IIT to Adhchini and MB road near Vayusenabad due to waterlogging and vehicle breakdown.

In central Delhi, the traffic was affected on New Rohtak Road in the carriageway from Anand Parbat towards Zakhira.

Just hours before the heavy downpour, the India Meteorological Department issued advisory over the rain impact expected and action suggested due to rain over Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas.

It said that there could be water logging in low lying areas, occasional reduction in visibility, disruption of traffic in roads leading to increased travel time and also minor damage to kutcha roads.

The weather department asked the people to check for traffic congestion on their route before leaving for their destination.

“Follow any traffic advisories that are issued in this regard. Avoid going to areas that face the water logging problems often. Avoid staying in a vulnerable structure,” the advisory read. – IANS