Capital punishment: Rain plays havoc
Life virtually came to a standstill and chaos prevailed as heavy downpour lashed the national capital for hours on Saturday. Flooding and waterlogging brought traffic in virtually all parts of the city to a grinding halt. Several roads were submerged, vehicles were stranded and two Metro stations had to be shut due to flooding. Parts of the Indira Gandhi International airport too were flooded but the air traffic remained largely unaffected.
The capital received 123 mm of rain from 11.30 am to 5.30 pm, one of the heaviest spells in the last 10 years, according to the Met office. The rainfall recorded on Saturday was 40 per cent more compared to last year. The rain brought down the maximum temperature to 31.1 degrees Celsius while the minimum dropped to 23 degrees Celsius. There is forecast of more rain for Sunday.
Yet again, the heavy downpour exposed the city’s poor drainage system. Overflowing drains, waterlogged roads, uprooted trees and broken down vehicles resulted in complete chaos on city roads. People could be seen wading through waterlogged stretches. Officials and the staff of the civic bodies could be seen wading through waist-deep water near Pragati Maidan in their bid to open clogged drains.
Massive traffic jams were reported from across the city and the worst affected areas were central Delhi, ITO, Laxmi Nagar, Kashmere Gate, stretches around India Gate, Connaught Place, among others.
Traffic jams were also reported from south Delhi’s Okhla Industrial area, Chittaranjan Park, Kalkaji, Saket, west Delhi’s Patel Nagar, Kirti Nagar, Mayapuri, Raja Garden, north Delhi’s Shalimar Bagh and Model Town and east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar and Krishna Nagar.
“There was flooding in some parts of the Malviya Nagar Metro station because of which we had to shut it down but the trains are operating normally,” said an official of Delhi Metro. The Saket station was shut down as rainwater flooded its entry gates. Northern Railway services were hit as 13 trains which were to pass through Delhi got delayed due to flooding at some stations.
The arrival area of IGI airport was flooded, causing inconvenience to the passengers coming out of Terminal 3.
However, an official of the Delhi International Airport Limited said: “Despite heavy rain all passenger facilities at the airport remain completely unaffected, including the baggage belts. All flight operations were normal at the moment except one flight which was diverted and four flights had to go around for a few minutes.”
The private power distribution companies, which cater to areas other than the central parts housing MPs, said there were no major power cuts.
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