The traffic police had a register full of complaints on Wednesday
The traffic police had a register full of complaints on WednesdayIt doesn't happen too often that so many people turn to the traffic police in a single day. But Wednesday was an exceptional day for the national capital, as an over generous rain god threw traffic out of gear across the city.
Deluge: Vehicles trapped on a waterlogged road near the ISBT,
Kashmere Gate.u00a0pic/Imtiyaz KhanIt was rush hour and the motorists were stuck for hours or moved at a snail's pace with most of the roads remaining waterlogged due to heavy rains in the morning and the jam session continued till late evening.
A section of the arterial Ring Road was closed for traffic as the Yamuna water entered the road and the area in front of the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium - one of the key Commonwealth Games venues - turned into a canal with the road submerging into knee-deep water.
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So many people called up the traffic police for help that they had to get a new register. "It has happened for the first time ever that we got so many calls in a single day. The register got full and we had to get a new one," said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
"Almost all our staff was out on the road to handle the traffic. Our men were continuously working during the day diverting the traffic and helping motorists. We can't do more as flood and rains is beyond our control," the officer said.
Ambulance and VIP cars were also stuck in the heavy traffic jam. Some of the commuters rescued an ambulance that was stranded in water on the Ring Road.
"I saw an ambulance behind my car but there was no space around me to make way for it. The ambulance was carrying some heart patients, so I decided to help. I got down from the car and requested others to give way to the ambulance. Few people joined and somehow we managed to make way for the ambulance," said Ismail Zafar Khan, a journalist who was stuck in the jam on Ring Road.
According to the Delhi traffic police, water logged roads were the main reason for the jam and the worst affected areas were Ring Road between IP flyover towards Rajghat, near Hanuman Setu towards ISBT and Khajuri Khas towards Bhajanpura.
Jam sessionSerpentine queues of vehicles were the order of the day in Delhi on Wednesday. Many roads like the Vikas Marg, Gazipur-Nizamuddin Road, Ring Road, Mathura Road, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, DND flyover and Delhi-Gurgaon Road witnessed un-ending traffic snarls. The misery was compounded for commuters on Gazipur- Nizamuddin Road after police restricted movement of vehicles by putting trucks across the road at the entry point of Ring Road, which was waterlogged. Same was the case with those coming through Raj Ghat to IP Estate. Vehicular movement was also slow in areas like Connaught Place and AIIMS, South Extension, Nizamuddin, Saket, Safdurjung and Kalkaji. Traffic movement was also slow at Mathura Road-Purana Quila Road, Pusa Road, Ajmeri Bazar-Chawri Bazar, New Rohtak Road near Anand Parbat among other localities. Traffic movement was slow due to waterlogging at points like Ring Road IP flyover, Qutub Metro Station towards Gurgaon, Minto road underpass, Dwarka underpass and Humauan Road-Pandara Road. According to MCD, among the main points of waterlogging were Dwarka, Rajorkri, Nangloi, Mundka, Pitam Pura, Shakti Nagar, Jahangirpuri Main Road, Okhla, Sarita Vihar flyover, Minto Bridge, Chawri Bazar, Netaji Subhash Marg, Vasant Vihar, Pusa Road, Rampura to Moti Nagar, Pashim Puri and Jhandewalan.
