Commuters fume as choked drains cause huge traffic jams

The national capital continued to reel under severe traffic jams due to waterlogging as rain lashed the city for the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

Office-goers had a harrowing time as traffic crawled at several arterial roads.

Massive jams were witnessed in several parts of the city including major intersections such as ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Kashmere Gate, South Extension, 

Ashram Chowk, Moolchand underpass, Nehru Place, Dhaula Kuan, Azad Marg, Gurudwara Nanakpura, Badarpur, Apsara Border, Yamuna Vihar, Okhla Mandi, Uttamnagar and Kajori Chowk.

Streets were waterlogged due to clogged drains which forced the traffic  to crawl as a result of which commuters lost tempers. ‘There was a long traffic jam because of the waterlogged roads in the Mehrauli, Vasant Kunj. The jam extended till Chattarpur. It took traffic officials more than three hours to clear the traffic jam,’ said a traffic official.

Met department officials said the city recorded 13.5 millimeters of rain since 8.30 am on Tuesday.

Srilekha Sharma, a commuter said, ‘I had started from my home in Laxmi Nagar at around 9.30 am and reached 

Connaught Place after almost two hours because of the massive jams. Usually it takes only 30 minutes to cover the distance.’

Waterlogging was reported from Moolchand underpass, Paschim Vihar underpass, Punjabi Bagh underpass, Prembari Pul underpass, Dwarka underpass, Punjabi Bagh Club road, Raghubir Nagar, Raja Garden and Lala Lajpat Rai Marg.

Weatherman has predicted rains and thundershowers in some areas on Thursday. The maximum and minimum is likely to remain 32 and 25 degrees celsius, respectively.