Delhi roads paralysed, agencies immobile amid heavy rain

HEavy rain down triggered waterlogging crossways new delhi on th, slip off many of the Capital’s most crucial road links as unprepared authorities struggled to tackle the ensuing logjam and clear the streets, with half-baked measures leaving thousands of commuters stranded in traffic for hours, well after the showers ended.And even while officials offered no clear solutions and agencies sought to deflect blame, three people were killed in two incidents, as another downpour shone the spotlight on Delhi’s brittle civic infrastructure.Moreover, more than 350 flights were delayed, as passengers and airline crews struggled to reach the airport. Many missed their flights.Sardar Patel Marg bore the brunt of the traffic mess, with the vital arterial stretch that connects central Delhi with the airport, Gurugram, the Cantonment and the southwestern parts of the city, largely marooned as a result of a waterlogged underpass at Dhaula Kuan and unplanned traffic police diversions.The showers began around 4am, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The city eventually received 92.5mm of rain till 5.30pm (of which 79.4mm was between 8.30am and 5.30am) in what was Delhi’s 2nd wettest day this year.With this, Delhi also crossed its annual normal rainfall quota of 774.4mm, the quickest it has surpassed this threshold since 2021. With more than four months of the year still to go, Delhi has received 818.1mm of rain.To be sure, such heavy spells of rain are not uncommon in Delhi, with four such spells already recorded this year. The Capital received the first heavy spell of 77mm on May 2, followed by a season-high 24-hour spell of 81.4mm on May 25. It logged 68.1mm of rain on July 29 and 79mm on Saturday.Yet, authorities seemed to be taken by surprise as the city’s decades-old drainage system and poorly designed tunnels and underpasses buckled under pressure. The Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) all blamed each other.Delhi’s PWD minister Parvesh Verma said the area around Sardar Patel Marg was flooded due to ongoing work adjoining the stretch of Rao Tula Ram Marg that is under NHAI’s jurisdiction.“NHAI has allocated ₹80 crore for the construction of a comprehensive stormwater drainage system, expected to be completed by year-end, which will permanently solve the issue,” said Verma.NHAI did not respond to requests seeking comment on the matter.Bumper-to-bumper traffic blocked both carriageways of the Sardar Patel Marg and its adjoining roads, including Panchsheel Marg, Simon Bolivar Marg, Vande Mataram Marg, San Martin Marg, Jesus and Mary Marg, Abai Marg, Chandragupta Marg, and Mother Teresa Crescent Marg — streets that lead to and from the city’s diplomatic enclave.Vehicles stayed rooted in their spots since early morning till 8pm.Commuters alleged that traffic police stood by and watched, doing little to help motorists, many of whom set off with their luggage for the airport on foot.“We saw traffic personnel on the Sardar Patel Marg and asked them to take some action so that vehicles could move. Except giving false assurances that they were doing their best to clear the traffic jams, there was absolutely no effort from them to resolve the issue,” said Manas Tiwari, a resident of Patparganj, who was driving towards Gurugram through Sardar Patel Marg.“Some of them cited waterlogging in underpasses near Parade Road and Mehram Nagar and falling of trees on the route as the reason behind the chaos. They blamed the civic agencies for not clearing the waterlogging,” said Tiwari.Others vented their frustration on social media.“Very serious traffic jams since last 5 hours on Sardar Patel Road outside Maurya and Taj Palace.. Please help @DelhiPolice !!!,” Sanjeev Shriya posted on X.“@dtptraffic took 2 hours and 40mins to cross 5 KMs of road from Chanakyapuri to Airport. If the water logging before Airport flyover is not fixed, Delhi will continue to suffer due to traffic congestion towards the Airport on weekends,” posted another user on X.Senior traffic police officers blamed PWD and NHAI for allegedly delayed responses to frantic calls and messages to clear the streets of water.“We tried contacting senior officials of the PWD through calls and messages but there was absolutely no response from them till late afternoon. It was only around 3pm that two people from the PWD brought water pumps to clear the waterlogged roads around the airport. The PWD area before the Parade Road underpass was heavily waterlogged, due to which traffic towards the airport stopped completely. NHAI deployed pumps to tackle the situation,” a senior traffic police officer, who asked not to be named, said, adding that 56 traffic personnel were deployed between Chanakyapuri and Delhi airport to manage the traffic.PWD officials confirmed that several underpasses, including those at Dhaula Kuan, Hanuman Mandir underpass towards Terminal 1 of the airport and Manekshaw underpass, were flooded. This led to heavy traffic on the roads.“However, most of these areas were cleared within two hours after the rains stopped,” said a PWD official.An official explained that most of the Delhi Cantonment area, including Subroto Park, close to SP Marg were waterlogged as a new drainage line needs to be laid following the construction of the new naval headquarters.Officials who asked not to be named said the work has to be taken up by the armed forces. However, this is scheduled to start after the monsoon.Many fliers missed their flights amid the mayhem.A user on X said he was able to cover only two kilometres in three hours.“3 hours for 2 km at Delhi Airport. Missed my domestic flight. @DelhiPolice — this isn’t traffic management, it’s a masterclass in incompetence. #DelhiAirport,” the post on X said.Earlier in the day, a 50-year-old man and his 22-year-old daughter was injured when a neem tree came crashing down on them in Kalkaji. The deceased was identified as Sudhir Kumar, of Tughlakabad, who worked as a caretaker in the Rain Basera homeless shelter near Turkman Gate. His injured daughter was identified as Priya.Later, two boys, aged 10 and nine, died after a boundary wall of a vacant plot collapsed on them in south-west Delhi’s Basant Nagar on Thursday. Police said the wall was “old” and “weak” and gave way due to heavy rain and waterlogging in the area.