Delhi records heaviest July rain in 21 years; ‘Yellow’ alert for today

The first spell of heavy monsoon rain created mayhem in residential and commercial areas of Delhi on Saturday, with inundated roads and overflowing drains leading to massive waterlogging and paralysed traffic for hours.

The Safdarjung observatory, the city’s primary weather station, recorded 126.1 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.

According to Delhi government officials, the city received more than 100 mm rain in a single day, which is 15 per cent of the total rainfall it gets every monsoon. This much water cannot be drained while the rain is still on, they said, adding that once the rain stopped, the water was cleared rapidly.

The morning rain that continued for several hours led to water gushing into the storerooms of the city’s most popular shopping destination, Connaught Place, and a closure of the Minto Bridge underpass for traffic due to waterlogging.

The mess caused by the rain also exposed the preparations of various civic bodies ahead of September, when six G20 Summit events, including the summit meeting, are scheduled to take place in the national capital.

Motorists and pedestrians had a hard time navigating waterlogged roads, flyovers and footpaths, while traders faced trouble stopping the rain water entering their shops in several areas.

This was the season’s first heavy spell of rain. An “orange” alert was sounded for Saturday and a “yellow” alert has been sounded for Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The traffic department received 56 calls related to waterlogging, six regarding fallen trees and five related to potholes, it said.

The Minto Bridge underpass has been closed for vehicular traffic due to the incessant rains that have led to waterlogging. Heavy waterlogging was also reported from the Tilak Bridge underpass.

Waterlogging was reported from the Pandav Nagar underpass, Purana Quila Road, Dwarka Link Road, NH-48 near Shiv Murti, Rohtak Road, Vikas Marg, under the AIIMS flyover, under the Moolchand flyover, Mother Teresa Crescent-Sardar Patel Marg and under Tilak Bridge among other places, the traffic police said.

The calls related to fallen trees were received from Jantar Mantar Road, Chandgi Ram Akhara, Amrita Shergil Marg, DDU Marg, Dhirpur Main Road and Mother Teresa Crescent.

Sunlight Colony, Raja Puri, Bharat Darshan Park, the Shadipur metro station and the Buta Singh roundabout were the locations from where the pothole-related calls were received, the traffic police said.

Two areas within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) also reported incidents of trees falling.

Some of the areas that reported waterlogging are Harijan Colony in Kalkaji, Jangpura extension, Nabi Karim in Paharganj and Gautam Puri in Shahdara, according to MCD officials.

Meanwhile, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) reported 24 cases of waterlogging and fallen trees.

According to the data shared by NDMC officials, five trees were uprooted and 11 incidents of broken branches recorded in Lutyens’ Delhi.

Amit Gupta, a trader at Connaught Place, said the tall claims of Delhi being a Smart City are exposed every year during monsoon, when shops get flooded and the traders face losses.

New Delhi Traders’ Association president Atul Bhargava claimed that the “faulty” Panchkuian road slope directs rain water towards Connaught Place and no action has so far been taken by the authorities in this regard.

“This was the first spell of heavy rain and many shopkeepers are trying to save their goods. The same scene was witnessed during monsoon before the COVID-19 pandemic,” Bhargava said.

Commuters stuck in traffic took to social media to narrate their ordeal. One of them said the traffic was heavy on Vikas Marg, from Laxmi Nagar to ITO. The ITO area witnessed massive traffic snarls due to the waterlogging at the Tilak bridge underpass and Minto Bridge.

Another commuter said there was heavy traffic congestion at Shakti Chowk, between Dwarka Sector 4 and Sector 5.

People at the Ghevra railway crossing, Chirag Delhi, Nehru Place flyover and near the Greater Kailash metro station also complained about traffic congestion.

The Delhi Traffic Police took to Twitter to inform the commuters about the traffic condition across the city.

“Traffic is affected on Aurobindo Marg in the carriageway from IIT towards PTS Malviya Nagar and vice-versa due to waterlogging. Kindly avoid the stretch,” it said.

“Traffic is affected on Rohtak road in the carriageway from Tikri Border towards Mundka due to waterlogging.

“Traffic is affected on Ring road in the carriageway from Rajouri Garden towards Punjabi Bagh due to waterlogging near Bharat Darshan park,” it informed in a series of tweets.

Sarojini Nagar Mini Market Traders’ Association president Ashok Randhawa said the rains have hit the business.

“We wait for Saturday and Sunday as people step out to shop. But due to the heavy rain, there are hardly any customers. There is heavy waterlogging outside the market area, but not much inside,” he said.

Kamla Nagar Market Traders’ Association president Nitin Gupta said almost all the shops were flooded.

“Today’s rains have turned Delhi into a lake. Almost all the shops in Kamla Nagar have been flooded. The customers are finding it difficult to come to the market. The situation is such that as if we are facing a shortage of boats,” he said.

According to the NDMC, all major drains are flowing with full discharge capacity, resulting in excess water flowing on the roads.

“Due to very high intensity rainfall today in #NDMC and its adjoining areas between 12 Noon to 2.30 PM, all major drains are flowing with full discharge capacity resulting in excess water flowing on roads. NDMC officials are working tirelessly to get things normal very soon,” it tweeted.

In a statement, the Delhi Traffic Police said calls regarding traffic congestion, failure of traffic signals and waterlogging as well as uprooting of trees and potholes on roads were received at the traffic control room.

Incidents of power failure were also reported from many parts of the city, which resulted in non-functioning of signals and manning of signalised intersections by traffic personnel, it said.

The traffic control room flashed messages to all traffic officers to mobilise maximum number of staff, motorcycle patrol teams and cranes in the field to ensure manual regulation of traffic at the intersections where there was no power supply, remove broken down vehicles, uprooted trees and restore normal traffic, the statement said.

Messages through the traffic control room were also flashed to the control rooms of other civic agencies, such as the horticulture departments of the NDMC, PWD and MCD.

Fallen tree branches were removed from the footpaths and central verges and traffic movement was managed in the best possible manner. The operations are still going on, the statement said.

The public works department (PWD) received 100 complaints of waterlogging. Minto Road was closed for vehicular traffic for half an hour due to a Delhi Jal Board (DJB) drain overflowing.