Vehicles wade through a waterlogged street in Gurgaon on Thursday. (Express Photo)Heavy rains in several parts of Delhi and NCR led to waterlogging and traffic jams on Thursday, with parts of NH 48 in Gurgaon being inundated.
According to the India Meteorological Department, moderate rainfall is expected on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the department has issued a ‘yellow alert’ for Friday. A yellow alert is a warning to be aware that moderate to heavy showers are expected.
While schools in Gautam Buddh Nagar district have been declared shut on Friday for classes I to VIII because of the heavy rainfall, in Gurgaon all private education institutions have been advised to remain shut.
The Gurgaon district administration has also issued an advisory asking corporate offices and private institutions in the district to guide their employees to work from home on Friday to avoid traffic congestion and to ensure smooth repair work of roads and drains.
In Delhi, Safdarjung saw 38.4 mm of rain between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm on Thursday. The Palam weather observatory, however, recorded heavy rainfall of 80.9 mm in the same duration.
The maximum temperature dropped to 28 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below the normal.
The rainfall over Delhi-NCR is on account of a cyclonic circulation over northwestern Madhya Pradesh and southwestern Uttar Pradesh. The system is likely to persist over the same area for the next 24 hours, IMD officials said Thursday evening.
Delhi | Heavy downpour witnessed in several parts of the national capital; visuals from Kartavya Path pic.twitter.com/c1reQ3a31y
— ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2022
In Gurgaon, meanwhile, moderate to heavy rainfall was recorded in most parts. According to data of district administration, Gurgaon tehsil received 55 mm of rainfall till 5 pm. Kadipur recorded 54 mm rainfall, Harsaru received 54 mm, Wazirabad received 60 mm, Badshahpur received 30 mm, Manesar reported 50 mm, Farrukhnagar got 29 mm, Pataudi recorded 20 mm and Sohna received 43 mm rainfall till 5 pm.
Traffic congestion was reported on several stretches of National Highway (NH) 48, including at Iffco Chowk, Shankar Chowk, Rajiv Chowk and at Sarhaul near Gurgaon-Delhi border.
The Narsingpur-Khandsa stretch of NH 48 was the worst affected where the service lane was completely submerged and a carriageway was also inundated.
The Indian Express had reported earlier that inadequate drainage infrastructure, rapid urbanisation and disappearing water bodies and lakes due to concretisation, change in land use patterns, disruption of natural drains, encroachment at stretches along storm water drains and choked drainage lines were major reasons for flooding across the city every year.
Parts of Udyog Vihar, sector 50, sector 42 and several internal sector roads also saw waterlogging, along with Mayfield Garden chowk, South City 1 and AIT chowk on Golf Course road among others.
Several vehicles broke down, while commuters had to wade through knee-deep water in low-lying areas.
A traffic police officer said, “Vehicle flow remained smooth in most parts of Gurgaon, though there is vehicle slowdown at some locations. All the traffic staff including ACPs and DCP traffic are on the field to ensure smooth flow of traffic.”
“Several teams have been deployed for clearing of water chutes and road gullies at all locations. At certain locations, the water level is gradually receding. In areas where heavy waterlogging has been reported, pumps and machinery have been deployed to address the situation. All the underpasses are free of any water accumulation and open to traffic,” said Vikram Singh, executive engineer, infrastructure 2 division.
In Delhi, a portion of the road in Satya Niketan caved in, but PWD officials said it was a minor incident.
Officials said that major waterlogging was not reported on PWD roads. “Pul Prahaladpur and Zakhira pul to Karampura were waterlogged lightly but the water was removed immediately and there was no disruption in the traffic movement on both of these roads which is an achievement. At Pul Prahladpur, there is some waterlogging because of the water overflow from Delhi Jal Board’s drain line,” said a PWD official.
He said, PWD received around 15 calls regarding waterlogging and most of them were repeated calls. Complaints were received from Aurobindo Marg, Munirka Flyover, Auchandi road, Anand Parbat, Zakhira to Karampura, Pul prahalad pur, Swami Nagar road subway, Rajdhani road, near Nehru College, Nigam Bodh Ghat road, Mahipalpur and Sombazar to Nazafgarh stretch.
“A portion of Satya Niketan stretch caved in but it was not major… As soon the cave in took place, traffic was stopped and barricaded. PWD staff are there on the ground repairing the road. It is a minor cave in, it will be repaired soon,” said the officials.
The MCD received complaints of waterlogging from three places Fatehpur Beri, Sangam vihar and Tikri Kala village. Reports of trees falling were received from Madipur colony, Nangal Rai, Mahavir Enclave, Ramjas Road Karol Bagh, Inderpuri, Azadpur Commercial complex, Aruna Nagar Majnu ka Tila, as per MCD reports.