The Hindu : New Delhi News : Rain leaves the Capital in a jam

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Saturday, Aug 09, 2008
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New Delhi

Rain leaves the Capital in a jam

Staff Reporter

Photo: Sandeep Saxena

In deep waters: The water-logged Ring Road near ITO after the downpour in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: A steady shower that began early in the morning and continued till late afternoon brought life to a virtual standstill in the Capital on Friday, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded on water-logged roads.

While the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was engaged in passing the buck for the mess all day long, thousands of commuters including office-goers and school children seemed to be the worst hit. Many vehicles broke down in knee-deep water on roads across the city adding to the chaos.

An under-construction building collapsed in Chiragh Dilli in the evening owing to the rain.

A total of 25.8 mm of rainfall had been recorded by evening and the maximum temperature dipped to a pleasant 26.2 degrees Celsius.

According to MCD officials, 27 complaints of water-logging were received from various parts of the city. The worst-affected areas included ITO near Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Ring Road near Raj Ghat and Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kalindi Kunj, Badarpur, Outer Ring Road (IIT flyover to Rao Tula Ram Marg), Africa Avenue Marg, Kalkadas Marg, Yamuna Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Loni Road, Naveen Shahdara, Gandhi Nagar, Lado Sarai Road and the stretch from Mathura Road to Bhogal.

Blaming the Public Works Department for water-logging in most areas, MCD Standing Committee chairman Vijender Gupta said: “The water-logging resulted mainly due to inaction of the Public Works Department, the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, the Delhi Jal Board and other agencies that are primarily responsible for these roads. But our staff worked overtime to de-water these roads belonging to other agencies. All the Deputy Commissioners and Chief Engineer of the MCD were in the field since early morning supervising de-watering operations.”

According to Mr. Gupta, the civic body had spent about Rs.25 crore this year on de-silting of drains, repair of water-logged roads and improvement of the road drainage system in the MCD areas.

MCD House leader Subhash Arya said: “A number of meetings have taken place wherein Delhi Government officials were handed out the list of vulnerable points under their jurisdiction and apprised of the action to be taken by them. But it is unfortunate that these departments have not taken any action and that has led to chaotic conditions on roads during the rain.”

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