New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Heavy rain soaked Delhi on Thursday, leaving vehicles stranded on waterlogged roads for hours as commuters waded their way through submerged roads. Several tree falling incidents were reported across the city, one of which claimed a life in Kalkaji.
A DTC bus was stuck on the waterlogged Dhaula Kuan-Gurugram road, where cars were stuck in rainwater, and those travelling on motorcycles and scooters had to get down and push their vehicles through the flooded section.
A video from an underpass near AIIMS showed water accumulated in the corridor after the rain.
A massive tree in the middle of a Kalkaji road uprooted and fell on vehicles crawling in heavy rain, killing 50-year-old Sudhir Kumar, a resident of Tughlaqabad area, who was riding on a motorcycle with his daughter Priya (22).
Priya suffered a pelvic fracture in the Thursday morning accident.
The incident was captured on CCTV in which the huge tree, inches away from the footpath, can be seen uprooting from the road and falling on unaware commuters.
A video from the spot showed the father-daughter duo trapped between the fallen tree and the bike as several people holding umbrellas gathered around and tried to help rescue them.
Lajpat Nagar, Rohtak Road, Anand Parbat, GTK Depot in Jahangirpuri, Adarsh Nagar, Old GT Road near Ring Road, the carriageway from Ashram towards Moolchand on Mathura Road and Dhaula Kuan–Gurugram road were inundated, causing inconvenience to commuters during the rush hour.
A commuter stuck in traffic in Lajpat Nagar said, "I was stuck in traffic for hours due to massive waterlogging on Ring Road near Lajpat Nagar towards AIIMS. Traffic was at a standstill for two hours and has just started moving in a single lane."
Similar scenes were witnessed near Subroto Park and Outer Ring Road, Dwarka Sector 20, Basai Road in Gurugram, and parts of Ghaziabad and Noida.
Over 50 complaints about waterlogging were received by the PWD’s flood control room on Thursday.
"Our horticulture team is at the spot and working with local officials to clear the fallen tree. We are still trying to figure out what exactly was the cause of this incident," a PWD official said.
The official said that there were several roadside trees that fell following heavy rain on Thursday and quick response teams are responding to calls.
The PWD received calls regarding tree falling incidents from the Saket Court area, near Ghitorni metro station on MG Road, Satya Niketan, Okhla Mandi, and South Extension 2.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an 'orange' alert, warning of more rain.
From 8.30 am to 11.30 am, in three hours, Delhi’s primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded 74 mm of rainfall, Lodhi Road 62.4 mm, Palam 38 mm, Ridge 34.6 mm, and Pusa 46 mm, according to IMD data.
During the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday, Safdarjung recorded 13.1 mm of rainfall, Aya Nagar logged 57.4 mm, Palam 49.4 mm, Lodhi Road 12 mm, Pragati Maidan 9 mm, and Pusa 5 mm, the IMD said.
The rain brought down the minimum temperature in Delhi to 23.6 degrees Celsius, 3.2 notches below normal. The maximum temperature is expected to settle around 32 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.
Issuing the 'orange' alert for Delhi, the IMD warned of moderate to heavy rainfall during the day, along with thunderstorms and lightning in several parts of the capital.
Delhi Traffic Police took to X to warn commuters about waterlogged areas.
"Due to the recent rains causing waterlogging at GTK Depot, Jahangirpuri, and Adarsh Nagar, traffic on Old GT Road is likely to be severely affected. To avoid congestion, commuters are advised to avoid taking Old GT Road and are requested to plan accordingly or take alternate routes," it said in a post.
Meanwhile, opposition AAP leaders shared videos of inundated areas in the national capital and slammed the Delhi government over loss of lives due to the heavy downpour.
Former chief minister Atishi wrote a letter to Chief Minister Rekha Gupta over the Kalkaji tree uprooting incident.
She demanded that PWD Minister Parvesh Verma must take moral responsibility and be dismissed from the Delhi cabinet.
AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj blamed the Delhi government for the massive waterlogging across the city, alleging that it did not undertake de-silting of drains despite a court order.
"Gai bhains paani mein, humari car bhi paani mein hai," he said sarcastically, using a popular Hindi idiom to say that his car was submerged.
Despite a high court order, the desilting work has not been carried out and the government is avoiding a third-party audit of the desilting contracts, Bharadwaj claimed.
Waterlogging management under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's government has gone underwater, he said.