Heavy rain causes massive traffic snarls in Delhi, yellow alert for Saturday

New Delhi, Sep 23: The India Meteorological Department on Friday issued a yellow alert for Delhi on Saturday and cautioned people about moderate rain at most places in national capital while heavy rains are expected at a couple of locations.

The heavy rains disrupted the traffic movement with drivers having to negotiate waterlogged roads and stretches obstructed by fallen trees.

The Delhi Traffic Police issued an alert, asking commuters to plan their journey keeping the rainfall in mind.

"Waterlogging has been observed near Hanuman Setu on Shanti van to Hanuman Mandir Carriageway, Libaspur underpass, Maharani Bagh Taimur Nagar cut, CDR Chowk, Mehrauli towards Gurugram, Andheria More towards Vasant Kunj, under Nizamuddin bridge, Singhu Border near petrol pump, MB Road towards Sainik Farm carriageway," it tweeted, advising the commuters to avoid these stretches.

The traffic police said they received 19 calls regarding traffic congestion, while 11 about waterlogging and 22 of tree falling.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi received 12 waterlogging complaints and 16 of uprooted trees. According to officials, the calls regarding traffic snarls were received from Sonia Vihar Pushta Road, below Bijwasan flyover, Uttam Nagar signal, near Vasant Kunj Church and Vasant Kunj Fortis hospital, Rajdhani Park to Nangloi, Pitampura, Model Town extension etc. Some commuters also took to the microblogging site to share the traffic conditions on the ground. One of the commuters said the traffic was heavy in Nangloi. Another user requested the police to control the heavy traffic between Batla House and Okhla. Reports of traffic jams in the Mahipalpur area and Preet Vihar in east Delhi were also received by the police.

In a related development, a portion of a parapet above the first floor of a building in MCD-run Hindu Rao Hospital collapsed on Friday, a senior civic official said. However, no one was injured in the incident, the official said. A car was damaged after a portion of the debris fell on it.

It was not immediately known the exact cause of the collapse. Delhi recorded more than half of the average rainfall in September in just 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Friday, swinging from being rain deficient to rain surplus this month.

The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded 58.5 mm of precipitation against a normal of 108.5 mm between September 1 and September 22 (Thursday morning). It received 72 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Friday, making it the first spell of heavy rain this month. From September 1 to September 23, the city received 130.5 mm of rain. Normally, Delhi records 125.5 mm of rainfall in September.

with PTI inputs