Rain, hospital fire and protests bring NCR traffic to halt

NEW DELHI: Commuters had a harrowing day on Thursday with the rains affecting major thoroughfares in central and south Delhi due. Though no severe waterlogging was reported, the hailstorm in the evening forced drivers to stop their vehicles to avoid skidding on the thick layer of the icy pellets or slow down considerably.
The situation was compounded by protesting youngsters march in protest from Red Fort to Jantar Mantar.There was misery for travellers on the Delhi-Noida route too after a fire at a hospital there.
Some roads, especially those from Mehrauli to Gurgaon and Mehrauli to Badarpur, saw jams due to blockades and potholes that emerged after the rains.
Traffic jams were reported on Noida Link Road and DND Flyway after UP Police blocked the flyway approach in Noida’s Sector 12 to allow the shifting of patients from Metro Hospital and Heart Institute to another facility after the fire. The blockade, which lasted almost two hours, had a cascading effect on traffic, and the snarl stretched to Delhi side of the flyway.

Minor waterlogging in Mehrauli-Badarpur and Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi resulted in the average road speed dipping to below 15 kmph. The additional personnel deployed for the Road Safety Campaign diverted traffic to parallel passages, but the sheer vehicular volume soon choked the roads. Police officers alerted commuters to the diversions through messages on social media and variable display boards.

Police said the hailstorm proved a hurdle in south and central Delhi after many cars idled on the roads, fearing collisions and crashes due to the slippery surface.

In the afternoon, a protest by youngsters over unemployment resulted in gridlocks on Netaji Subhas Marg, Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, Ranjit Singh Flyover and Tolstoy Marg. Their procession caused snarls on Deshbandhu Gupta Marg and Rani Jhansi Road too.
Some roads, especially those from Mehrauli to Gurgaon and Mehrauli to Badarpur, saw jams due to blockades and potholes that emerged after the rains. Heavy vehicles moved at a snail’s pace on these roads. Water logging near Anand Parbat created a similar situation on Rohtak Road in central Delhi.