Traffic woes in Delhi and Gurugram spark online debate as commuters battle gridlock after rain: “An hour has passed but no….” | Today’s news
Heavy rains continued to lash Delhi-NCR on Wednesday morning, causing a huge traffic snarl. Many users took to social media to complain about the network being locked down. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the capital and predicted wet conditions during the day.
“Generally cloudy sky. Very light to light rain at many places, light rain at isolated places accompanied by thundershowers/lightning/strong wind gusting to 30-40 km/h gusting to 50 km/h morning/morning. Further period of very light to light rain at many places with light rain at isolated places by evening/night,” the IMD forecast said.
Read also | Gurugram rains: Police issues WFH advisory for corporate offices
Waterlogging in Badarpur area has caused traffic snarls after heavy rain.
Quick answers to key questions
•5 QUESTIONS
The traffic jam was mainly caused by heavy rainfall which led to significant waterlogging and collapse of a section of National Highway-48 near Narsinghpur, further complicating the situation.
The Gurugram Police has issued a work-from-home advisory to limit non-essential vehicular movement, which helps ease traffic congestion and allows emergency services to operate more efficiently during heavy rains.
The heavy rain led to severe waterlogging and damage to the road, causing delays and even incidents such as the partial sinking of a school bus in a sunken road, significantly disrupting school transport.
Authorities have implemented traffic diversions, urged businesses to adopt flexible work-from-home policies and deployed police to direct and monitor traffic flow during the ongoing heavy rains.
Major affected locations included the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, Anand Vihar, Civil Lines Road and several flood-prone areas such as Mayfield Gardens and Sheetla Mata Road.
Traffic jam problems during heavy rains caused a major stretch of National Highway-48 to sink in Narsinghpur area of Haryana’s Gurugram on Tuesday following heavy rains. Traffic disruption continued on July 8 when a nearly 1 kilometer long traffic jam was seen on the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway.
Read also | Delhi HC directs recovery of X Cockroach Janta Party account
Due to ongoing repairs on one lane of the expressway near Behrampur, the traffic situation has worsened. The Gurugram police had earlier appealed to corporate employees to work from home to help ease traffic congestion. Even the Delhi Traffic Police has issued an advisory urging motorists to use an alternate route via the UER Dwarka Expressway.
On Tuesday, vehicles were stuck on Gurugram’s Civil Lines Road due to heavy waterlogging. The area is home to Gurugram Deputy Commissioner, Badshahpur MLA and Haryana Minister Rao Narbir Singh.
The district received as much as 34.5 mm of rainfall on July 7, the IMD said. Apart from the usual flood hotspot of Sheetla Mata Road, the newly constructed main road in Sector 102 and the Mayfield Gardens-Sispal Vihar stretch were also inundated. According to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), a sinkhole occurred on NH-48 at a place where the Gurugram Urban Development Authority (GMDA) was carrying out work on pipe culverts. As a precautionary measure, the agency closed two lanes of the highway while GMDA teams continued restoration work.
Reaction on social networks
Many social media users complained of being stuck in traffic for over an hour. Key routes where there was severe traffic congestion include the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway, Anand Vihar, railway and metro stations and the Mehrauli – Badarpur road.
Read also | Delhi and Mumbai rains disrupt flights: Air India, IndiGo issue travel advisory
A user wrote, “One heavy spell of rain and that’s the situation in Delhi NCR. People on the Delhi-Gurugram route were stuck for hours in a 10 km traffic jam after a section of NH-48 collapsed. Road Transport and Highways Minister @nitin_gadkari is busy turning people’s cars and bikes into garbage and collapsing with ethanol.”
Another user commented, “There is such a huge traffic jam near the flyover between Anand Vihar railway station and metro station and no traffic policeman is clearing it.”
A third user said, “There is heavy traffic on MB Road due to the rain, so much so that it is causing inconvenience for school buses to arrive.”
A fourth comment read: “There is a huge traffic jam on KhanpurMB Road. An hour has passed but no one from the administration is present.”
A fifth user said, “Jam at Khanpur Red Light MB road since half an hour.”
