Moderate rain leads to waterlogging in parts of city

 
Mderate rainfall on Saturday morning again led to waterlogging in various parts of the national capital, with residents wading through knee-deep water and traffic slowing to a crawl. Chief Minister Rekha Gupta conducted a surprise inspection of waterlogged areas near Sadbhavna Park in east Delhi and directed officials to deploy pumps to clear accumulated water.

The Chief Minister emphasised that all departments concerned must work with “complete promptness and coordination” to ensure Delhi residents do not face inconvenience due to rainfall.

Waterlogging was reported from several key locations, including National Highway 48 near Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, Mahipalpur, and Sangam Vihar.

On Saturday morning, Delhi Police said in a post on X that due to “continuous heavy rainfall, severe waterlogging” was affecting traffic movement on Road No. 210, particularly between Rotary Chowk-DJB Chowk/Office and towards Omaxe in Dwarka.

Several parts of the city, including the international and domestic terminals of the Delhi airport, witnessed heavy waterlogging on Friday as well.

In light of the upcoming BRICS summit next week on September 12 and 13, senior officials from the Delhi government also inspected the route from Bharat Mandapam, where the summit is set to take place, to IGI Airport to identify any potential issues.

“Light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorm/lightning occurred at most places and heavy rain at isolated places over Delhi during the past 24 hours,” the Meteorological Department (IMD) said in a statement.

The Safdarjung weather station, which is considered the city’s representative observatory, recorded 37.3 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m. on Saturday and 29.8 mm of rainfall from then till 5.30 p.m., officials said.

Light to moderate rainfall is expected on Sunday as well, according to the IMD.

Rain batters Gurugram

In Gurugram, heavy rain provided a much-needed relief from the humid conditions, but it also caused significant waterlogging in several areas, halting the city’s usual pace.

Traffic remained slow from Sarhaul Border to Rajiv Chowk, with 36 mm of rainfall recorded within just one hour.

Roads become ponds after a short spell of rain: Cong.

The Congress on Saturday said the party is worried that waterlogging, bad roads, traffic jams and rain water entering the Delhi airport in the run-up to the BRICS summit will tarnish the country’s image.

General secretary (organisation), Delhi unit, Anil Bhardwaj alleged, “After a brief spell of rain, Delhi gets submerged, roads become ponds and there are traffic jams for long hours. If the Delhi government fails to find a permanent solution to the waterlogging problem, it will tarnish the image of the country’s capital during the BRICS summit in front of the whole world.”