Delhi sees massive traffic jam due to rain, Republic Day parade rehearsals

NEw new delhi: heavily rainfall combined with certificate rehearsals for the Republic daytime march triggered severe traffic congestion across the national capital and its borders on Friday, leaving commuters, students and ambulances stranded in gridlocks lasting several hours.Significant traffic jams were reported around Connaught Place, ITO, Kamla Market, Patel Nagar, Dhaula Kuan, Outer Ring Road, Sarai Kale Khan, Sarita Vihar, Burari, and the Delhi-Gurgaon and Mayur Vihar-Noida routes.ALSO READ | Non-stop rain brings down Delhi AQI, temperature, hits flight ops; Shimla, Kashmir turn whiteSenior police officers said significant number of personnel were deployed for Republic Day arrangements, with barricading erected in central and New Delhi for rehearsals. Staff were immediately rushed to manage traffic flow after the rain caused disruptions. Delhi Traffic Police also issued an advisory on Friday for traffic restrictions around Connaught Place, Janpath, Rafi Marg, Man Singh Road, Kartavya Path due to Republic Day parade rehearsals. Traffic will be affected near India Gate, Firoz Shah Road, Mathura Road and nearby areas as traffic will be diverted there, it said.Many parents reported that despite living in proximity to schools, commute times doubled.“The school is less than five kilometres from where I stay and normally it’s just a 15-minute drive, but today it took about an hour for my kids to reach home,” said Bhaskar Shukla, whose two children study at the Dwarka-based Spring Meadows Public School.Vikas Sharma, a parent of a student at the Pitampura-based DAV Public School, opted to keep his children home. “I take out time from work every day to pick and drop my kids to school. Taking out 15-20 minutes is fine, but being stuck for an hour or over due to traffic becomes an issue, so I asked my kids to take a holiday today,” Sharma said.On social media platform X, a student highlighted that congestion around Sarita Vihar caused delays for examinees reaching the National Testing Agency (NTA) centre in the area, requesting authorities to wait for late arrivals.Commuters heading to work faced similar delays. Sumit Sethi, a cybersecurity engineer living near Talkatora Road, said: “I have to reach my office around 10am for an important meeting with clients. I could not even leave my locality for 30 minutes because of all the barricading. Police don’t check and put barricades anywhere. There was so much traffic. People were taking U-turns in the middle of the road and no policeman was there.”Travellers also reported delays in reaching railway stations and the airport. “We knew about the rainfall but had no idea it was going to rain for hours,” a senior Delhi Traffic Police officer said. “Traffic personnel, who are already posted for security and rehearsals, had to be rushed. We can’t remove barricading as it is a security measure. The traffic jams were controlled by noon.”The morning showers caused waterlogging on the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Rohtak Road, parts of Mathura Road, Lala Lajpat Marg, GT Karnal Road, and in areas including Burari, Sainik Farm, Saket metro station, Najafgarh, Trilokpuri, Keshavpuram, Seelampur, Anand Parbat Road and Vinod Nagar.Officials stated that as the rain was light in most parts, water drained out and most areas were dry by evening.“It feels as if the roads in Old Delhi are not meant for rain. The roads are littered with potholes, which trap a lot of water,” said Ashok Bhasin, president of a federation of North Delhi Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs). “The sewers have also not been cleaned, due to which the sewage spilled out into the street today.”Residents of Krishna Nagar in East Delhi reported similar issues.“People were stuck in traffic for over an hour in the morning. I drive a two-wheeler, so for me and many others, such traffic snarls mean being stuck in open rain,” said Harish Goyal, 56, a resident of Shakarpur. “This happens every time when it rains as the roads are not maintained properly here, and is a concern for essential services... Ambulances, police officials, and the fire brigade can also get stuck.”Visuals surfaced on social media platform X of streets in North Delhi’s Burari filled with knee-deep brown water. Narayan Dutt Sanwal, an RWA president in Burari, said: “The entire road was filled with water as the drains had been filled. Many two-wheeler vehicles slipped as well. There was a traffic jam for around two and a half hours, on a route which normally takes five minutes. What’s worse is that this started at 11am today, and the streets are still not completely dry.”Atul Goyal, president of United Residents Joint Action, a federation of RWAs, identified city drainage as the central problem.“The drainage system in the city is highly compromised, and the sewers are not cleaned when it is not raining. Thus when a heavy spell of rain occurs, garbage such as plastic bags, bottles, or leaves accumulate and block the drains, causing waterlogging and long traffic jams. What we need is for agencies to be held accountable,” Goyal said.