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Waterlogging, traffic snarls in many areas after rains in Delhi

New Delhi, Many parts of the national capital, including a portion of the newly-redeveloped Chandni Chowk, witnessed waterlogging and heavy traffic snarls following rainfall on Wednesday.

According to the Public Works Department (PWD), traffic police and municipal authorities, at least 149 complaints of water accumulation on streets and low-lying areas were reported on Wednesday.

Municipal officials said that five incidents of tree felling were reported on Wednesday.

Prominent areas where streets were inundated include the Ring Road near WHO building, near Pragati Maidan, portion of newly redeveloped Chandni Chowk, Vikas Marg near DDA building, Kamla Market, Rohini, Sadar Bazar, Malviya Nagar, ITO, Okhla, Janak Puri, Rohtak Road, Nabi Karim, Shastri Nagar, Keshav Puram, Rajan Babu Road in Civil Lines, Bhajanpura, Swami Dayanand Marg Shahdara, Pul Prahladpur on Mehrauli-Badarpur road, Azadpur underpass, among others.

A purported video was circulated on social media on Wednesday afternoon where ankle-deep water is visibly flowing on the main Chandni Chowk street near Jain Mandir and people are seen wading through the inundated stretch.

PWD officials said that the intensity of the rain was “very high” due to which water accumulated briefly on the newly-redeveloped Chandni Chowk stretch near Jain Mandir.

“The water was cleared within 10 minutes. Normally, we call it waterlogging if water stays for more than 30 minutes after rains stop. This should not be called waterlogging. The entire stretch (of Chandni Chowk) has been paved now and surface runoff takes some time to drain off,” a PWD official said.

The Minto Bridge, however, remained clear of the waterlogging on the second consecutive day on Wednesday.

A senior PWD official said that waterlogging at the Ring Road near WHO building was caused by an overflowing sewer line of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB).

“The water was cleared within 15-20 minutes at the Ring Road, Vikas Marg and Pragati Maidan,” the official said.

The showers inundated major roads and low-lying residential areas and caused traffic snarls in parts of the city.

The waterlogging in Shahdara was such that the traffic police had to restrict vehicular movement on Swami Dayanand Marg.

“Traffic movement is closed on Road no.57 Swami Dayanand Marg towards Shahdara due to waterlogging,” Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet.

The traffic police also advised commuters to avoid Azadpur-Mukarba Chowk, Pul Prahladpur and Bhajanpura stretches due to heavy traffic because of waterlogging.

Commuters complained about traffic snarls following rains.

“I was stuck in a jam at the Ring Road near the IP flyover for about 20 minutes. It was caused by waterlogging there. Delhi roads submerge in water even after a slightest of rain,” a commuter Shivanshu Mishra said.

The monsoon finally embraced Delhi on Tuesday, 16 days behind the usual date of the onset.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 26.1 mm rainfall. Lodi Road gauged 25 mm precipitation during the period.

Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate, between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm is heavy, between 115.6 and 204.4 is very heavy. Anything above 204.4 mm is considered extremely heavy rainfall.

Light to moderate rainfall is expected in Delhi over the next six days, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said. PTI