Just 16mm of rain was enough to bring Delhi to a standstill once again as a spell of showers on Wednesday flooded large parts of the Capital and put a brake on traffic, keeping commuters stuck in winding snarls across several crucial roads.
Wednesday’s mess was exacerbated by the influx of Kanwariyas into the Capital, as well as by the Public Works Department (PWD) kicking off work on extending the Modi Mill flyover near Okhla and expanding the Savitri flyover near Greater Kailash – two projects that are expected to rumble on for years and cripple traffic on Outer Ring Road, and its surrounding stretches, for the foreseeable future.
The mess is likely to continue, with the volume of Kanwariyas set to swell through the week and the weather agency forecasting more showers for Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Wednesday’s rain was triggered by the monsoon trough shifting back over north India. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm, the Safdarjung station received 15.6mm of rain. Lodhi Road was Delhi’s wettest station, clocking 38.7mm of showers.
That was enough to expose the city’s unstable traffic and civic infrastructure, with the showers also opening up dents and craters across several stretches, even as authorities continued construction work.
Outer Ring Road, especially the stretch between Chirag Delhi crossing and the Okhla NSIC Metro station, was among the worst-affected, with PWD barricading a section of the carriageway near Meriton Hotel, squeezing what was an already-congested road.
“Work started on Tuesday. Earth-movers have been brought in and digging has also started. There’s also nearby repair work on the Modi Mill flyover underpass. This is affecting traffic movement and will continue for a long time,” said a Delhi traffic police officer.
PWD officials confirmed that the initial excavation has begun and said the project is expected to take more than one-and-a-half years to complete, raising the possibility of prolonged disruption on one of Delhi’s busiest corridors.
To be sure, the agency has overshot its stipulated timelines in a string of projects, including on the Ashram underpass, which overshot its deadline by nearly 1.5 years and the flyover’s link to the Delhi-Noida Direct Flyway, which overshot by nearly two.
By Wednesday morning, commuters were reporting journeys that normally took 30 minutes stretching to nearly two hours.
The knock-on effects of the tailback were soon felt across the city as well, with snarls reported on the DND Flyway, Kalindi Kunj, CV Raman Marg, New Friends Colony, Maharani Bagh, Okhla, Dhaula Kuan as well as the stretches leading to the airport.
Traffic also came to a complete standstill on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road near Okhla Mor, with the showers inundating the carriageway.
Several areas, including ITO, Kirari, Sadar Bazar and Sangam Vihar were in ankle-deep water.
Traffic police maintained that the disruption was caused by several factors converging simultaneously.
“The Kanwar Yatra has started and small processions have started along the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. Rains have been hindering smooth flow of traffic. Traffic around Sarai Kale Khan and south Delhi will be an issue for the next week. Our staff is deployed at every point to regulate traffic,” said a senior Delhi traffic police officer.
Another officer, however, acknowledged that civic problems had worsened the traffic.
“On Tuesday, we faced major traffic jams around 9am as civic authorities brought in two tractors and started planting saplings and putting flowerpots on the DND Flyway. This took over two hours, narrowing the carriageway,” said the officer.
As frustration mounted, social media also filled with videos of stationary traffic and flooded roads from across the city.
“East Delhi traffic has become a mess. All roads were blocked and there was no police official in sight to resolve it. GT Road, Loni Road, Jhilmil, GTB Enclave, Dilshad Garden were all packed,” Purusharth Malik, a commuter from Noida, said.
At Mangolpuri, another resident alleged there was no visible deployment of traffic personnel at a busy intersection despite severe congestion.
Relief is unlikely on Thursday. IMD has issued a yellow, forecasting more spells of light to moderate rainfall across the city.
Kanwar yatris set up camps at Sarai Kale Khan and Pandav Nagar on Wednesday night, with barricades placed along the road for their safe movement.
Several began moving towards Sunlight Colony, CV Raman Marg, Ghazipur and Mayur Vihar, many of them on trucks stack with boom boxes.
Kanwariyas are moving in small batches for now, police said, adding that the Dak Kanwariyas will arrive in a day or two.
The processions will continue until August 11, police said.
