Rain leaves Delhi traffic in a mess

Delhi crawled under massive traffic jams due to water-logging with motorists stuck on roads after a spell of showers in the national capital on Monday.

The city received 15.2 mm rainfall. Vehicular movement was affected across the city, including at ITO, Vikas Marg, South Extension, Khanpur, Mahipalpur, Hari Nagar, IIT crossing, Nehru Place, Yusuf Sarai Market and Munirka.

Traffic also crawled at major intersections such as Laxmi Nagar, Kashmere Gate, Dwarka, Dhaula Kuan, Sarai Kale Khan, Moolchand, Karkarduma, Rajghat, Kalindi Kunj.
“We received over 150 calls about waterlogging and heavy traffic in different parts of the city. There were over 50 waterlogging points that hampered traffic movement,” said Sandeep Goel, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

The problem was further aggravated due to a large number of vehicles, Monday being the first working day of the week.

“It usually takes 35 minutes for me to reach my home in Laxmi Nagar from my office in Connaught Place, but today I got stuck for three hours,” Manoj Gupta, a software engineer, said.

Severe waterlogging was also reported on stretches at Mathura Road, Vayusenabad, Wazirabad Road and Tigri on Mehrauli Badarpur Road.

Commuters were barely able to move as MG road, Mayapuri, Nigam Bodh Ghat, Kela Ghat, Durga Puri Chowk and Mandoli T-Point were jam-packed due to waterlogging.

Bihar toll touches 159.

The toll in Bihar floods rose to 159 with three more deaths being reported on Monday, while the situation in Uttar Pradesh improved due to receding river waters.
The floods in Bihar caused by overflowing of Ganga, Sone, Punpun, Burhi Gandak, Ghaghra, Kosi and other rivers have affected 37.74 lakh people in 2,029 villages of 12 districts, the Disaster Management Department said.

A total of 7.06 lakh people have been evacuated so far from the affected districts of Buxar, Bhojpur, Patna, Vaishali, Saran, Begusarai, Samastipur, Lakhisarai, Khagaria, Munger, Bhagalpur and Katihar, it said.

The Ganga is flowing above the danger mark at Digha Ghat, Gandhi Ghat, Hathidah (in Patna), Bhagalpur and Kahalgaon (in Bhagalpur district), and in Munger and Buxar districts.
In Uttar Pradesh, with lesser rainfall in the past few days, water in major rivers have started receding, though some of those continue to flow above danger mark.
According to a Central Water Commission report, water in the Ganga is receding, but the river is still flowing above danger level at Varanasi, Ghazipur and Ballia.
Around 8.7 lakh people in 987 villages of Varanasi, Allahabad, Ghazipur and Ballia are affected due to floods and relief and rescue operations are on.