Rain once again spelt trouble for commuters in the national capital on Monday. Scores got delayed for office, school and other destinations as they were stuck in traffic snarls on waterlogged streets.
Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit offered a curious solution to the problem, asking residents to pray to the God so that rains subside. “Pray to the God to stop the rains,” Dikshit replied when asked how she plans to deal with the problem of water-logging in the city as people have to suffer due to the administration’s failure in improving the drainage system.
The regional meteorological department forecast more showers in the coming days. “The maximum and minimum temperature on Tuesday will hover around 34 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively. There will be a cloudy sky and possibility of thunderstorm with rain,” said a met official.
Some passengers had a tough time as the frequency of buses went down, while others said auto-rickshaw drivers tried to fleece them. “I had to post my admission form today (on Monday) as tomorrow (Tuesday) is the last date. I was waiting for an auto at Barakhamba Road, but I could not find one for an hour because they were asking for Rs 50-100 to go to Connaught Place,” said 28-year-old Monisha.
Vehicles on major arterial roads across the city were forced to travel bumper-to-bumper due to water-logging. Traffic signals did not function properly on almost all arterial roads, which caused traffic snarls.
“I was stuck in traffic near Akshardham for half-an-hour and when I jumped a traffic light as I was getting late, I was challan-ed,” said Sakshi, an office-goer.
Traffic policemen said water-logging was reported from round 20 places from across the city — Old Fort, Mathura Road, Adchini, Harkesh Nagar, Jasola pul, Savitri Cinema, Chirag Delhi, Mother Dairy and Karkardooma, among others
The capital had recorded 123 mm of rain on Saturday, the highest in the last 10 years. Even the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation was forced to shut two of its stations — Malviya Nagar and Saket — for a few hours after rainwater seeped in.
The municipal officials blamed the Public Works Department (PWD) for the drainage mess. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has 1,464 drains, the North Corporation has 1,179 while the East Corporation has over 1,000 storm-water drains.
A PWD official said, “The drain pumps are defunct and it will take some time to clear the water from the roads.”
The maximum temperature on Monday was recorded at 31.1 degree Celsius and the minimum settled at 23 degrees, average for this time of the year. The humidity was 87 per cent at 8.30 am.
A total of 384.5 mm rain has been recorded in the capital since the beginning of monsoon in June.