Delhi-NCR traffic snarl deepens as torrential rain floods roads during Friday rush hour
Friday evening travel across Delhi-NCR turned into a crawl as heavy rain flooded roads, trapped vehicles and left office-goers stuck in long, slow-moving que...
Friday evening travel across Delhi-NCR turned into a crawl as heavy rain flooded roads, trapped vehicles and left office-goers stuck in long, slow-moving queues across the capital and adjoining cities. The India Meteorological Department kept its red alert in place for Delhi and warned of more rain, thunder and lightning over the next few hours.
The worst disruption hit during the peak rush hour. Traffic backed up on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, ITO, Wazirabad Road, Patel Road, Rohtak Road, the Kirti Nagar stretch, the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Peeragarhi and Shaheen Bagh. Similar congestion was reported in East Delhi, including GT Road, GTB Enclave and Dilshad Garden, while Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad also saw key stretches choked by waterlogging.
Roads submerged, commuters stranded
Vehicles in several pockets moved bumper to bumper through flooded patches. Some commuters said delays stretched for hours. The rain did not ease through the evening, and every fresh burst added to the mess on already clogged arterial roads.
In south Delhi’s Fatehpur Beri, the impact was stark. Residents of Valmiki Basti waded through waist-deep water, and some used a large blue plastic sheet as a makeshift raft to carry schoolchildren across flooded lanes. One resident, Rishipal Mashe, said the colony has battled flooding for decades and blamed an incomplete stormwater drain and alleged downstream encroachments for the repeated problem.
A wider monsoon squeeze
The Delhi downpour came as the southwest monsoon intensified across India, with the weather office issuing red and orange alerts in several states and warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall, strong winds, thunderstorms and lightning. Reports this week also pointed to severe disruption in parts of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the hill states, where landslides and blocked roads have added to the strain on transport networks.
For Delhi, the immediate concern remained the next few hours. The IMD forecast moderate rain at many places and heavy rain at isolated locations, with thunderstorms and lightning still on the table. In Valmiki Basti, where residents said nearly five feet of water had filled the village, the rain kept coming.
