Rain brings down humidity but causes traffic snarls in Delhi

A spell of rain lashed Delhi on Thursday bringing much-needed respite from the humidity.

The rain, however, left roads of the city flooded, leaving commuters stuck in massive traffic jams in the evening.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more rain in the coming days. Light rains and thunderstorm is likely to continue till Monday.

A senior Met official said that the Monsoon trough might shift slightly southwards during the weekend and the amount of rainfall in Delhi might reduce after Sunday.

On Thursday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 31.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average while the minimum temperature was recorded at 26 degrees Celsius.

The rain on Thursday caused havoc on the roads with several arterial roads being clogged with vehicles.

Roads such as the Okhla intersection, South Avenue, Vikas Marg, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Qutub Road, Barapullah, MB Road, GT Road and Mathura Road were waterlogged.

Delhi Traffic Police used its Twitter handle to advise people to avoid the route from Yusuf Sarai market towards All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), as the carriageway was submerged in water after Thursday’s downpour.

“Waterlogging reported on the carriageway from Yusuf Sarai market towards AIIMS. Kindly avoid the stretch,” the tweet said.

Traffic police said that waterlogging was also reported near the Defence Colony flyover and near the carriageway from Moolchand Hospital towards Lajpat Nagar Metro station.

Traffic snarls were also reported from ITO intersection, the India Gate roundabout, Shahjahan Road, Moti Bagh intersection, Rao Tula Ram Marg, Dhaula Kuan, Rajouri Garden, Dwarka Road, Palam intersection, Uttam Nagar intersection (near the metro station) and near Subhash Nagar main market.

In many intersections, the traffic situation becameworse after the signals stopped functioning because of the rain.

Several commuters stuck in traffic snarls took to social media platforms to vent their frustration.

Anjula Srihan tweeted, “Stuck at South EX for an hour now. Traffic is crawling and there is no way to get out. Same story after every rain (sic).”

Another commuter, Shiven Rajsinghvi tweeted, “Using the brakes more than the accelerator. What a day!”

Cases of three trees falling were also reported by the three municipal corporations. Under the South Delhi Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction, two trees fell at RK Puram Sector-7 and at Saket H-block. The East Delhi Municipal Corporation said they cleared a fallen tree from Vishwas Nagar.