Traffic gets stuck on flooded roads in Delhi, commuters suffer

NEW DELHI: There was heavy traffic congestion at various locations in the city after heavy rains till early morning resulted in waterlogging on Thursday.

Among the major locations affected were Anuvrat Marg near Qutub Minar metro station, areas in Delhi Cantonment, the stretch from Khanpur to Saket metro station on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road and the stretch from Badarpur border to Faridabad on Mathura Road.

Delhi Traffic Police posted several alerts on X about heavy traffic congestion on Aurobindo Marg near the Malviya Nagar red light, Ring Road under the Dhaula Kuan flyover, Kalindi Kunj traffic light, Rajokri flyover, Vande Mataram Marg, NH 48, the carriageway from Badarpur towards Mehrauli and the carriageway from Badarpur towards Sangam Vihar.

Like the cops cautioning motorists to avoid certain congested stretches, people too warned their fellow commuters. Ram Khatana posted on X, "It took 2 hours for an ambulance to reach Delhi from Gurgaon. If an ambulance is taking so much time, what can be the condition of other vehicles commuting on the road? On NH 48, the roads are jam-packed and the traffic is at a standstill for hours."

Prasad, a commuter, told TOI, "There is a huge traffic jam on the Rajokri flyover. For 25 minutes, the traffic hasn't moved and there are no traffic police officers posted to smoothen the traffic movement." Vivek Chillar too grumbled, "There was heavy traffic on the stretch from Gurgaon to Delhi. The traffic jam on this stretch has become routine and no steps are being taken by authorities to ease the congestion. The Dwarka expressway was opened to improve traffic movement but it has instead become the main reason for the mess."

A bus broke down in front of Asian Market on MB Road between Khanpur and Saket, making driving a frustrating experience on the already waterlogged road. The bus allowed only a narrow passage for vehicles, causing a long jam.

Amid all this, a traffic police officer said, "The traffic inspectors are being regularly informed about the congested stretches and personnel have been posted at the various affected locations."

The situation was worsened also by the traffic signal lights not functioning at intersections such as Trilokpuri Vasundhara Enclave, Janakpuri West and Rana Pratap Marg. Cars stalled there, leaving the people exasperated and angry.