Monsoon showers spark traffic snarls in Delhi-NCR

Monsoon showers spark traffic snarls in Delhi-NCR; office, school goers suffer

Heavy overnight showers in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) brought relief from the sweltering heat on Thursday, but left key roads and residential areas waterlogged, leading to serpentine traffic jams as vehicles moved bumper-to-bumper during peak morning hours.

In Indirapuram, most of the underground drains overflowed, leading to sewage water entering residential apartments and also leaving localities submerged in knee-deep water.

According to the India Meteorological Department, moderate rains will lash NCR for the next two days. The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 33 degrees Celsius, with a minimum of 26 degrees Celsius, the Met said.

Office and school goers were struck in massive jams and traffic signals malfunctioned in many areas due to the rains, police and civic officials said. In many places, people complained of cab hailing services hiking prices due to shortage of vehicles on the road.

Traffic jam on a road in Noida after heavy rains on Thursday. (HT photo)Some of the worst affected areas were Noida, Mathura Road, Delhi Gate, Ashram and parts of Ring Road in south Delhi.

Commuters said a traffic jam near AIIMS flyover stretched for 4-5 km due to waterlogging.

“Traffic signals (also) stopped working.This resulted in chaos as well as traffic smarls,” said Ashwini Gupta, a commuter who takes the Mathura Road to work. Gupta said it took him 35 minutes to cover a two-km stretch.

Waterlogging on a road in Noida after heavy rains on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)In east Delhi, traffic was also affected on GT Road as large groups of Kanwariyas – Shiv devotees — were passing through the stretch. Several temporary camps for Kawariyas, erected on roadsides, also added to the mess.

Kanwariyas, in an annual ritual, fetch water from the river Ganga in Garg Muktshwar and Haridwar.

Many residents also faced problem dues to surge pricing by app-based taxi services.

“I tried booking a cab from my house in Preet Vihar to Connaught Place. It usually costs Rs 164. However, today it was showing Rs 230 and even then I failed to get the cab,” said Radhika Shukla.

Waterlogging on a road in Noida after heavy rains on Thursday. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)In Ghaziabad, residents woke up to waterlogged localities following the overnight rains.

“Our high rise basement areas…are covered with water. Outside the highrise, we have nearly 1 to 2 feet of water and cars can’t ply. Office goes have suffered since morning when they started to move out,” said Ravindra Saini, a resident of Jaipuria Sunrise.

Traffic slow on Delhi-Noida link road due to waterlogging.
Via @sunilghosh786 pic.twitter.com/yBnAB8XUij

– Anupam Thapa (@anupamthapa) July 20, 2017″The sewage back flow is recurrent and local conditions are also worsened by the garbage littered on drains by local vendors,” Saini added.

Residents from Amrapali Village, another highrise with nearly 1,000 flats, also complained of the same problem.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident of the apartment building, said the Ghaziabad development authority did not respond to their pleas for cleaning the choked drains.

However, civic officials said they have deployed teams apprehending the problem during heavy rains.

Due to waterlogging in Noida, most of the roads witnessed traffic jams. (Salman Ali/HT Photo)”Our engineers and staff are deployed to resolve the issue since morning. Since there was power cut, the sewage treatment plant operated by municipal corporation did not function and led to sewage issues,” said GDA executive engineer Chakresh Jain.

In Noida too, many areas of the bustling city was waterlogged, causing massive traffic snarls.

The worst affected areas were Botanical Garden, Dalit Prerna Sthal, Sector 15-A, Sector 18, Sector 63, Labour Chowk and Sector 50.

“The problem in Noida will continue till the monsoon ends. It shows the (lack of ) preparation of the Noida authority,” said Sugandha Singh, a resident of sector 50.

The worst affected areas in Noida were Botanical Garden, Dalit Prerna Sthal, Sector 15-A, Sector 18, Sector 63, Labour Chowk and Sector 50. (Salman Ali/HT Photo)At various places in the city, people were forced to take longer, alternate routes to reach their places of work.

“Due to waterlogging, traffic movement slowed down at various places…In peak hours, its our priority that vehicles don’t get stuck,” said traffic inspector Layak Singh.

Gurgaon, however, did not face major issues as it received very little rain. The city woke up to a light drizzle with the minimum temperature recorded at 27 degrees Celsius.

At 9 am, there was no traffic congestion at the major junctions.

“There is no traffic jam today. I travelled from Sector 40 to Udyog Vihar as usual,” said Kesav Mishra, a corporate executive who lives in Sector 40.