Overnight rain brings Delhi to standstill, several roads unnavigable

A heavy rain overnight and showers Thursday morning left commuters and office-goers in the national capital negotiating with waterlogged roads, pothole-ridden stretches, and long snarls.

From ITO to Old Rohtak Road, Delhi-Jaipur highway (NH-8) and Madhuban Chowk, heavy traffic was reported for hours.

The city struggled to drain excess water and manage vehicular flow. The Shadipur area saw a bumper-to-bumper jam till late afternoon, with motorists reporting delays of up to an hour.

Traffic from Nangloi towards Najafgarh and vice versa came to a standstill.

The Delhi Traffic Police in a post on X informed the public that traffic was affected on both carriageways from Nangloi towards Mundka and vice versa on the Rohtak Road due to waterlogging, potholes, and road/sewer repairing by the Public Works Department.

Near Dhaula Kuan, Rajokri and Mahipalpur, vehicles were seen crawling for kilometres.

A particularly troubling point was the Zakhira Railway Underpass on Road No 40, where severe waterlogging led to diversions.

“Traffic from Shastri Nagar-KD Chowk is diverted towards Chaudhary Nahar Singh Marg and vice versa,” the traffic police wrote on X in a post.

“People are stuck for over 30 minutes just to cross a kilometre stretch,” posted a commuter caught in the Zakhira jam. “The situation is extremely bad.”

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Parts of south Delhi, including Sarai Kale Khan, the road leading to the AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital and the Ashram area, too, saw intractable snarls.

In Patparganj, a user wrote, “Due to the rain, many people are still stuck in traffic jams. In several places, vehicles are struggling to move forward.”

Commuters from Shalimar Bagh and Shahdara shared similar woes.

“Please have a look. We are stuck, and no one seems to be taking note,” one user wrote, tagging the Delhi Traffic Police’s handle.