Bus stranded in Delhi underpass, woman stuck in car: Fire Services, police field SOS calls

In Outer Delhi’s Mundka, a tempo and a truck were stuck in a waterlogged area in the morning and the fire services rescued 18 persons from the two vehicles. At Mayapuri Metro station in West Delhi, DFS personnel pulled out a woman trapped in her car. Police said she was heading towards Punjabi Bagh.

Officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) said they received 280 complaints from across the city till 2 pm, most of which were from areas around the airport such as Palam and Mahipalpur. They added that there was an issue with the drainage in the area, but they are yet to ascertain what caused the problem.

Traffic police also issued alerts about a few points in Dwarka. At noon, police tweeted that traffic was affected along the stretch from Dwarka Sector 1 to Palam flyover. “A drain was overflowing near the Delhi Jal Board booster pump in Dwarka, which led to heavy waterlogging. Many commuters were stranded. We sent personnel to help remove buses and cars from the route,” said a traffic official.

Similarly, a DJB sewer line on Ring Road was overflowing, leading to waterlogging and traffic congestion from IP flyover to WHO building.

NH-48 too was waterlogged and vehicles going from Dhaula Kuan towards Gurgaon were the worst affected, said traffic police. Commuters were advised to turn right on to Carippa Marg and take a left from Thimayya Chowk on Thimayya Marg to reach Gurgaon or the airport.

Other areas that saw heavy waterlogging included Ring Road and Yamuna Vihar. Traffic police also asked commuters to avoid the stretch in front of the WHO building on Ring Road. Minto Road, however, did not have to be shut, said officials.

Traffic was also regulated on the stretch from Azadpur to Mukarba Chowk. The Pul Prahladpur underpass was shut and traffic diverted from Badarpur to MB Road. The underpass in Rani Khera was also shut after water level there reached 3-4 feet, said traffic police. “Both sides of the Rani Khera underpass were waterlogged and several vehicles were stuck. We asked people to avoid the route,” said police.

More than 10 calls of uprooted trees were reported. Police said an old building in Outer Delhi’s Narela also collapsed due to the heavy rain but nobody was injured. Civic authorities said the building had been declared “dangerous” earlier.

Meanwhile, residents of Jain Colony at Kanjhawala also blocked the main road in protest over water entering their homes. “Work on a drain by DJB has been going on for three months now. Due to the heavy rain last night, the area is filled with water. People complained that their houses are filled with dirty drain water. We sent local police and a Station House Officer to the spot to remove the people. Traffic movement was restored by 4-5 pm,” said police.