More rain in Delhi spells chaos on city roads

New Delhi  :  A steady drizzle interspersed with heavy showers in some areas Friday saw the capital’s traffic getting caught in long snarls as some road stretches were flooded and traffic signals went on the blink.

Rainfall recorded till 5.30 p.m. was 10.9 mm, and the Met office has forecast more rain ahead.

The rains brought the maximum temperature down by three notches from the season’s average to 30.7 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was 25.5 degrees Celsius, a notch below the average for the season. The humidity stood at 100 percent.

The sun was largely blocked out by clouds throughout Friday.

The weatherman forecast similar weather for Saturday.

“Sky would remain generally cloudy. One or two heavy spells of rain are likely Saturday. There would be no change in the weather pattern for next two days. There will be intermittent rains,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.

Flooded roads and stalled traffic signals added to the woes of commuters.

“We were continuously receiving calls regarding traffic jams from various parts of the city, particularly from Vasant Vihar, Moolchand, Ashram Chowk, Moti Bagh and parts of north Delhi,” a Delhi traffic helpline official said.

Jams were reported throughout the day in south Delhi’s Dhaula Kuan, Mehrauli, Modi Mills, Nehru Place, north Delhi’s Shakti Nagar, Rohini, Mayur Vihar-III in east Delhi, Raja Garden flyover, ISBT Kashmere Gate and Vikas Marg near ITO.

Heavy rains in east and central Delhi in the morning had office-goers struggling to reach office.

“It generally take 25 minutes to reach my office in Gole Market from Jangpura but today it took more than an hour. The roads were flooded all around. Auto drivers are not ready to take passengers due to heavy water logging,” said Kamini Jaiswal.

Many troubled commuters posted their travails on the Facebook page of Delhi Traffic Police.

“Once again, the rains are here and the tall claims of the civic agencies fall flat with flooded streets, traffic signals not working, it is irritating to drive,” Kumar Biswas posted on the social networking site voicing his frustration.

“During rainy season, breakdown being a common feature, crane services should be provided to clear the vehicle immediately and the traffic police should restore smooth movement of traffic at the earliest,” wrote Ajai.K. Oswal.

As traffic went haywire, some commuters parked their vehicles at nearby Metro stations and took the Metro ride to their destinations.

“With road traffic badly hit, I took Metro to office,” Nandagopal Rajan, residing in Noida Sector 10, said in his post.

According to the civic agency, traffic complaints were received from south Delhi’s Green Park, Malaviya Nagar and Katwaria Sarai, west Delhi’s Paharganj and north Delhi’s Rohini.

A total of 307.8 mm of rain has been recorded in Delhi since monsoon began June-end. The rain deficit which was around 50 percent last week has now dipped to 36 percent, officials said.

The monsoon is expected to last in Delhi till Sep 20.

The Yamuna river has not crossed the danger mark so far, officials of the flood and irrigation department said. However, the river is flowing a little above its normal mark of 202.30 metres.

“Yamuna has not crossed the danger mark so far. If there are heavy showers, it might touch the danger mark by the weekend. But there is no threat as of now… our department is monitoring the level on a regular basis,” an official told IANS.

Officials said over 8,661 cusecs water from Haryana was released at the Hathnikund barrage and had reached Delhi. The river water level has not reached the danger mark, the official added.