New Delhi, Jul 29 (PTI) Rain lashed the national capital on Tuesday, claiming lives of a mother-son duo in a wall collapse incident and throwing vehicular movement out of gear, as roads remained waterlogged and traffic moved at snail’s pace for hours.
Traffic came to a near standstill on multiple stretches like ITO, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Nehru Place, Kailash Colony Road, Dhaula Kuan, Naraina, Patel Nagar, Vijay Chowk, Jangpura, RK Puram, Lajpat Nagar, Talkatora Road, Azad Market underpass, and Zakhira underpass.
The Opposition, Aam Aadmi Party, ripped into the BJP government over flooding of key markets, hospitals and underpasses, while questioning the “four-engine” governance model of the saffron party.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who conducted an inspection of ITO, that was inundated, said they have sought a report of every waterlogging point in the national capital and asserted that waterlogging did not persist for hours.
Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh, however, blamed the AAP of not working to address the issue and asserted that things had started improving after the BJP came into power.
Safdarjung observatory, the official marker of the national capital, recorded 68.1 mm of rainfall on Tuesday. Delhi’s monthly rainfall for July has been above average, official data showed.
So far this month, the city has recorded 220.2 mm of rainfall, exceeding the normal mark of 209.7 mm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
From June 1 to July 29 — the ongoing monsoon period has received 322.2 mm of rainfall, higher than the average seasonal figure of 270.1 mm.
Meanwhile, a 40-year-old woman, Meera, and her 17-year-old son, Ganpath, died in a wall collapse incident, few metres away from Raj Niwas, due to the heavy downpour. The woman’s other son, Dashrath (19) and brother-in-law Nanhe (35) were injured in the incident.
The family had arrived from Madhya Pradesh in search of employment opportunities and were working as labourers at the under-construction building, fire department officials said.
As rains lashed the city, severe traffic snarls and widespread waterlogging disrupted movement, forcing commuters to wade through deluged roads and streets.
According to the Public Works Department (PWD), around 90 calls regarding waterlogging were received at its flood control room while the MCD received only four calls about inundation and five calls over fallen trees.
Visuals from various parts of the city showed serpentine queues of vehicles at gridlocked intersections. In many areas, the water level rose to the knees, partially submerging cars and two-wheelers alike.
Videos of flooding from the Zakhira underpass to Connaught Place and from Safdarjung Hospital to LNJP Hospital, surfaced on social media. The videos were posted on X by AAP leaders to question the BJP dispensation over the state of affairs.
Rajeev Sharma, a commuter from Ghaziabad said, “It usually takes me around 45 minutes to reach my office in central Delhi, but today it took me almost two and a half hours. The roads were completely waterlogged, and the traffic just wouldn’t move.” Auto driver Abdul Qayyum, who was driving from south Delhi to Connaught Place said, “Vehicles were crawling and all the traffic signals went kaput. It’s usually a 20 to 25-minute drive but I was stuck for over an hour.” People in the Sadar Bazar area were seen wading through waist-deep water, while in markets like Kamla Nagar and Chandni Chowk, shops were flooded leading to losses for their owners as commercial activity came to a halt.
With festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Independence Day and Janmashtami approaching, shops had stocked new items, many of which were damaged due to flooding, according to traders.
In Connaught Place, the New Delhi Traders’ Association (NDTA) shared videos showing waterlogging in several blocks of the commercial complex. The outer-circle shops and the service tunnel in the middle circle which houses critical electrical wiring were also reportedly inundated.
The traders’ body said traffic movement was severely affected in the morning and both pedestrians and shop owners faced difficulties due to the flooding.
Delhi PWD Minister Parvesh Verma asserted that there was no waterlogging at hotspots like Minto Bridge underpass, Moolchand underpass, and Pul Prahladpur. However, PWD officials said there was waterlogging reported at the Minto Bridge underpass and traffic had to be diverted due to it for a brief period.
Highlighting severe waterlogging in Connaught Place after “just 10 minutes of rain”, AAP supremo and former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal questioned the effectiveness of the “four-engine” government.
“When this is the condition of Connaught Place, the heart of Delhi, it’s not hard to imagine the state of the rest of the city. Just 10 minutes of rain has turned the roads into ponds. In just five months, where has the BJP brought Delhi to? Is this the speed of the so-called ‘four-engine’ government?” he posted on X, sharing a video of Connaught Place.
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, however, said the regime change in Delhi was visible as Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and her ministers took to streets after heavy downpour and helped clearing waterlogged points.
Former chief minister Atishi also posed questions to her successor and minister Parvesh Singh Verma over the waterlogged streets. PTI NSM SLB VIT SHB SSJ BUN 1.0.0 OZ OZ
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.