As civic agencies started blame game over desilting of drains, the national capital faced severe traffic congestion caused due to waterlogging as rain lashed several parts of the city on Friday.
As civic agencies started blame game over desilting of drains, the national capital faced severe traffic congestion caused due to waterlogging as rain lashed several parts of the city on Friday.
Long tailbacks were witnessed in several parts of the city even after the peak morning hours. The areas where traffic was thrown out of gear include Kashmere Gate, Dhaula Kuan, Ashok Vihar and Rohini sub-city.
The stretch between Dhaula Kuan and IGI Airport and the Dhaula Kuan-Delhi Cantonment route were also clogged, giving commuters a harrowing time. By afternoon, the Delhi traffic police helpline was bombarded with calls about waterlogging. Most of the cases were reported from Vikas Marg, Malka Ganj, GPO, Tis Hazari Courts, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Punjabi Bagh, Mayapuri and Naraina. “Waterlogging also caused severe congestion at Pul Prahladpur, Shahdara, Loha Mandi and near Shadipur Depot,” said a traffic police officer.
Three BJP-ruled corporations blamed the Delhi government’s public works department for the waterlogging and said that it due to its failure to desilt drains that people faced a hard time commuting after rain on Friday. “All the bigger drains are with the PWD and the department failed to do even half of the desilting work, which is evident today. Situation will worsen when city will witness a heavy downpour,” said South Delhi Municipal Corporation standing committee chairman Shailendra Singh.
Three civic corporations have kept around 650 water pumps ready to pump out water from roads falling under their jurisdiction. “If more pumps and manpower will be required, more will be engaged,” added Mr Singh.
