Sabkush Headlines: Rains shut down roads in Delhi

Sabkush Headlines: Rains shut down roads in DelhiRains shut down roads in Delhi





Traffic on many arterial roads of Delhi was hit by water-logging and vehicles stalled by water entering the engines. Ring Road was undoubtedly the worst hit, with Brar Square, Wazirabad, Majnu Ka Tila, Hanuman Setu, ISBT, Moti Bagh, Aurobindo Marg, Vikas Marg, Rajouri Garden, Pitam Pura, Madhuban Chowk and Punjabi Bagh reporting very slow traffic movement till about 2 pm."The traffic situation worsened once too much water entered the roads," said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Satyendra Garg. In fact, traffic came to a complete standstill outside Chhattrasal Stadium, under the Moolchand flyover, on the Ashram-DND flyover, Nangal Dairy in Delhi Cantonment, outside the CISF picket near Indira Gandhi International Airports Terminal 2, near the DTC bus stand in Jaronda Kalan and outside Majnu Ka Tila police station. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi, on its part, maintained that unlike the previous occasions, flooded areas were promptly attended to and quickly drained. The civic body, which faced flak after heavy rains on July 12 caused havoc on roads, said all zonal deputy commissioners, chief engineers and other officers were out in the areas un der their jurisdiction supervising the field-level staff operating the pumps. The MCD received 112 complaints of water-logging on Tuesday, mostly from Rohini, West and South zones. It received 17 complaints of fallen trees and three complaints of building collapse. In the City zone, there were complaints of water-logging from Pragati Maidan, Yamuna Bazar, Jama Masjid to Lal Quila Marg, Mathura Road, Delhi Gate and Chandni Chowk. Gurgaon, where of late citizens are becoming all too familiar with the sinking feeling, was in no way better off. Several localities in the Millennium City, including the City bus stand, Sector 10, DLF areas and Sushant Lok, were under water for most of Tuesday. However, as always, the worst-affected area remained the Hero Honda Chowk where there was 1.5 feet water on the main carriageway. Poor planning and absence of basic infrastructure have only managed to worsen the situation. "In this part of the city, HUDA began digging to lay stormwater drains barely a month ago. They dug up the entire neighbourhood, but have not connected the drains to the main outlet yet. Which means every time it rains, water fills up in these partially-completed drains and overflows onto the road. They should have started the work earlier," said Harcharanjit Singh, a Sector 23-A resident. Top officials from the HUDA and the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon have paid several visits to the flooded Expressway, which witnessed traffic jam that lasted many hours delaying commuters on their way to work. "We held a meeting with the HUDA administrator, the Municipal Commissioner and several senior engineers on Tuesday and have identified the problem areas," said Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria. Gurgaon Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Mittal said: "We are doing the best we can to tackle the traffic situation, but there are certain limitations to what we can do. We deploy additional staff especially on days like these. Not only do they have to stand in knee-deep water for hours, but also face abuse from the commuters."