Rain brings traffic to a grinding halt, leaves several city areas waterlogged

Heavy rainfall on Friday morning brought the national capital to a grinding halt, with waterlogged roads and massive traffic jams disrupting the daily lives of commuters.

Key stretches across the Capital witnessed bumper-to-bumper traffic, while visuals from several areas showed vehicles stranded in waist-deep water and pedestrians struggling to wade through flooded streets.

Traffic was thrown out of gear on arterial roads, including Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, ITO, ISBT, Geeta Colony, Sarai Kale Khan, Pragati Maidan, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Akshardham, Rohtak Road, Peeragarhi, Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Madhuban Chowk, MB Road, MG Road, Dhaula Kuan and Rajaram Kohli Marg, according to Delhi Traffic Police officials. Long queues of vehicles from Badarpur to Ashram added to the woes of office-goers and school buses.

Several commuters took to the social media to vent frustration, with some saying 10-minute commutes stretched to over half an hour. Harshita, a resident of Laxmi Nagar, said: “It usually takes me 10 minutes to reach my office, but I have been stuck in the traffic for the past 30 minutes due to heavy rain.”

Severe waterlogging was also reported from Panchkuian Marg, Shastri Bhawan, RK Puram, Moti Bagh, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Nehru Place, East of Kailash and Kidwai Nagar.

In Laxmi Nagar’s Preet Vihar area, water seeped into shops. Aman, a local, said: “Just the distance from the Metro to my PG left my jeans and shoes soaked.” Visuals from West Vinod Nagar showed roads submerged waist-deep, while flooding outside AIIMS Delhi’s Surgery Block disrupted movement.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast thunderstorms with rain through the day. As per the department, the day is expected to be humid, with relative humidity recorded at 92 per cent at 8:30 am. In the past 24 hours, Safdarjung received 13.4 mm rainfall, Palam 6.2 mm, Lodhi Road 9.8 mm, Ridge 1.8 mm and Aya Nagar the highest at 29.3 mm. The minimum temperature was 26.2 degree Celsius, while the maximum is expected to touch 34 degree Celsius.

The chaos extended to Delhi Metro where services on a section of the Yellow Line — from Vishwavidyalaya to Central Secretariat — were disrupted during peak morning hours. Commuters complained that the travel time between Vishwavidyalaya and GTB Nagar stretched to nearly 50 minutes, a journey that usually takes only a few minutes.

In a statement, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said trains had to be regulated due to a signalling issue between New Delhi and Patel Chowk stations from 7:25 am to around noon. Trains operated at a restricted speed of 25 kmph between Kashmere Gate and Patel Chowk, leading to bunching across the line.

The Delhi Traffic Police said teams were deployed at key choke points to manage congestion. “Due to rain and waterlogging in some pockets, traffic movement was slow. Our personnel have been deployed to streamline the situation and assist commuters,” an officer said.

The heavy rainfall, which left several parts of the city waterlogged, triggered a sharp political blame game. Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav accused the BJP government in the Capital of failing to desilt storm water drains and repair broken roads. “Frequent rains have turned life unbearable for people in JJ clusters, resettlement colonies, and villages. Roads are waterlogged everywhere, exposing the false claims of the Rekha Gupta government,” he said.

The AAP also hit out at the BJP, sharing videos of flooded roads from Patparganj, Sangam Vihar, Laxmi Nagar, AIIMS, Geeta Colony, Sanjay Lake, South Delhi and MB Road. One clip showed a resident swimming through a waterlogged stretch in Patparganj. Taking a swipe at the BJP, AAP said the party should sell off its “four engines” and “buy four boats instead so that Delhiites can at least navigate the mess.”

AAP Delhi state president Saurabh Bharadwaj quipped, “Look at the condition of Sanjay Lake after the rains — the surrounding areas have turned into a lake. Ever since the BJP came to power, the number of lakes in Delhi has only increased.”