Record September day rains throw life out of gear, Capital under water
New Delhi: Record rain in Delhi created mayhem on Wednesday as many parts of the city, including the Diplomatic Enclave in Chanakyapuri, Connaught Place, ITO, Janpath and Ring Road, were flooded, throwing traffic out of gear across the national capital.
According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded 112.1 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, the highest single-day precipitation in September in 19 years.
The capital had recorded 126.8 mm rainfall on September 13, 2002. The all-time record is 172.6 mm rainfall on September 16, 1963. The city gauged 75.6 mm rainfall in just three hours starting at 8.30 am on Wednesday.
Commuters had a harrowing time as the traffic crawled on several key stretches due to extensive waterlogging at many places.
Some of the important areas that saw major waterlogging included Diplomatic Enclave of Chanakyapuri, Lodhi Road, Connaught Place, Minto Road underpass, Panchkuian road, Janpath, Akbar Road, roads near India Gate, Vasant Kunj, Ring Road, and Rohtak Road.
People took to different social media platforms and uploaded videos of inundated streets, colonies and markets.
In one such purported video, some roads near the American Embassy at Shanti Path and in Connaught Place were seen submerged in knee-deep water. The situation was similar in some other NDMC VVIP areas near Samrat Hotel and Lodhi Road.
No immediate reaction from the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on several of its areas getting inundated was available.
In another video that went viral on social media, rainwater was seen pouring down from a flyover in Mahipalpur on a flooded road. And yet again, the underpass at Minto Bridge was flooded.
PWD officials said the Minto Bridge water was cleared in two hours.
According to a PWD official, "Today was the case of extreme weather condition. Due to high intensity rains, waterlogging occurred at a number of locations in the city. However, waterlogging complaints were being addressed without delay."
Significantly, the Delhi government also issued a statement on excessive waterlogging. It said, "Despite heavy rainfall for two continuous days, Delhi government's efforts have resulted in no incidents like buses getting stuck in waterlogged underpasses like Minto Bridge. Apart from this, there were many areas that did not see any waterlogging. In the future, our efforts will be to ensure that no matter the amount of rainfall, waterlogging on streets is avoided and the Delhi government will do whatever is required for this."
Serpentine queues of vehicles were seen on key arterial roads as traffic moved at a snail's pace due to waterlogging in morning and evening peak hours.
PWD and municipal officials said that 282 complaints of waterlogging were received till Wednesday evening. At least 27 instances of tree felling were reported on Wednesday while only two cases of portions of wall collapse were reported, they said, adding that a tree near the PM's residence was also uprooted.
