Waterlogging after heavy rain triggers massive traffic snarls

New Delhi: Waterlogged roads after heavy rain in Delhi-NCR gave nightmares to the commuters, who faced a harrowing time on the roads and in the Metro in morning especially in peak hours. Adding to the woes, some roads also caved in and traffic was diverted to some other routes. Office-goers faced a lot of inconvenience due to traffic disruptions with most opting to use the Delhi Metro's services. The commuters reported snarls from different parts of city to traffic police through various mediums including Twitter.

According to Delhi Police, waterlogging was reported in more than 20 places. The Delhi Traffic Police used their Twitter handle to inform commuters on waterlogging and snarls. It asked commuters to avoid Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, Barapula, Defence Colony Flyover as a road caved in near the Lodhi Road, in which a bus was trapped. Another road going towards the INA market from Barapullah also caved in, the police tweeted.

Traffic is also affected on Rani Jhansi Road, Azad Market towards Idgah and Rafi Marg due to waterlogging. Besides, traffic is also affected at Karala Chowk, PTS Malviya Nagar Red Light, Under Modi Mill Flyover, Azad Market Underpass from KD Chowk towards Azad Market, Narayana Flyover towards Loha Mandi, Defence Colony Underpass from Jungpura towards Lajpat Nagar due to waterlogging.

"@dtptraffic I would request that the ZO of Sec 1 Dwarka area be put off duty. Entire area near flyover is a mess but your worthy team is focussed only at one intersection. Gramin Sewa r a mess. Wrong side driving is rampant. Even now jam is just cos of wrong side driving," a Twiterrati claimed.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Alok Kumar said that they informed concerned agencies about the road cave-in and waterlogging problem. Traffic is affected at Khyber Pass, Kela Ghat GPO towards Ring Road, Chatta Rail, Digamber Jain Mandir near Old Delhi Railway Station, Ashok Vihar Flyover(both carriageways) & Aurobindo Marg towards. In Moolchand underpass, Bihari Colony under railway bridge on road No 57 and Chhatrasal Stadium main gate red light due to waterlogging.

"Traffic Alert is affected at JLN Bhawan, R/A Maulana Azad Road towards Janpath, Swaroop Nagar Underpass from NH-1 towards Singhu Border & Mangol Puri towards Janak Puri on Peeragarhi Flyover due to waterlogging. Kindly avoid these stretches," claimed one such tweet.

As many as 15 trains were affected due to fog and low visibility. These include Howrah-New Delhi Poorva Express, Malda-Delhi Junction Farakka Express, Mumbai Amritsar Express and others. The Puri-New Delhi Purushottam Express was late by six hours, Northern Railways said. As the shower spell led to slow traffic movement on airports.

Delhi records best air quality this year

NEW DELHI: Heavy rains drastically reduced the pollution level of the national capital, which recorded the best air quality of this year on Tuesday, authorities said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, the overall air quality index (AQI) in the city was 133, which falls in the 'moderate' category. This is the first time this year that an AQI as low as 133 was recorded, the CPCB data showed. In the first week of January too, the air quality had improved to 'moderate' category for a brief period of time.

Delhi has been battling hazardous pollution level for the past few months and for the last one month the air quality has been oscillating between 'very poor' and 'severe' category. An AQI between 100 and 200 comes under 'moderate' category, 201 and 300 is considered 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', while that between 401 and 500 is 'severe'.

On Tuesday, two areas recorded 'satisfactory' air quality while 32 areas recorded 'moderate' air quality, the CPCB said.

In the National Capital Region, Noida, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Greater Noida recorded 'moderate' air quality, it said. Authorities said the drastic drop in pollution level was due to heavy rain that lashed the Delhi-NCR.