New Delhi: Heavy rains lashed the capital in which one person died of apparent electrocution and crippled the city inundating several low-lying areas, causing massive traffic jams with thousands of people stranded for hours till late tonight and disrupting flights.
A 36-year-old identified as Naveen, a resident of Gupta Colony, died apparently getting electrocuted after coming in contact with an electric pole which had a short circuit following the rains. The incident took place at Ramaiyya Chowk in Central Delhi's Mori Gate at around 9.20 pm.
The season's heaviest rainfall which virtually continued for five to six hours since evening gave relief from the prolonged heat spell to the rain-starved Capital but left a trail of misery as a massive traffic gridlock across the city frustrated people returning home in water-logged roads.
The city received 29.4 mm of rains between 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., a senior official at the Meteorological Department said, adding rain gauges in the city recorded 69 mm of rains from Sunday evening till 8:30 p.m. today. More rains are predicted for tomorrow.
Trees were uprooted and overhead electrical cables collapsed in some areas, adding to the woes of people hit hard by huge pile-ups on roads and overflowing drains. Numerous autorickshaws broke down, their drivers blaming the low-floor gas engines for their misery.
There were reports of a wall collapse in Sangam Vihar-- where two people were injured--and Jehangirpuri.
Massive water-logging and traffic snarls occured in many areas, including India Gate, ITO, R K Puram, Dhaula Kuan and localities in West Delhi and East Delhi.
Traffic lights snapped at several intersections compounding the chaos on the arterial roads where scores of vehicles packed up after water filtered into the engines.
Even in the better organised Luyten's Delhi, there was no respite. MPs leaving the Rajya Sabha complained their vehicles were struck for hours on overflowing streets.
Some roads and large parts of many roads simply went under water, thanks to choking drains. In some areas, drain water overflowed on to the roads.
Power outages were reported in many areas.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) control room was inundated with complaints of flooding in several residential areas.
Airport affected
Due to heavy rains, flights coming from Aurangabad, Lucknow, Goa and Bangalaore were delayed by up to two hours, sources at the airport said.
Also, the use of one runway (main runway) led to congestion at the national capital's air space and some of them were diverted.
Arriving and departing passengers had a tough time wading through water outside the terminal ID. An official admitted that it would take hours to clear the area of water.
During heavy rains, since the visibility drops, so only one runway (28/10) is being used, ATC sources said. This leads to increase in gaps between the landing of two aircraft as compared to other days, thus ensuring congestion in the airspace and delay in flights, they said.
There were also reports of leaks in the new domestic departure terminal, causing inconvenience to the passengers. A few days back, rain water had accumulated at the check-in areas in front of the airlines counters.
Due to continuous rains, some of the x-ray machines had to be shut down in order to prevent damage to them, sources said.
Rail traffic disrupted
The signals on the tracks from the New Delhi Railway Station and the Old Delhi have failed leading to chaotic situation for thousands of passengers. There has been no movement of train traffic after 9 p.m., the official said.
Engineers were at the scene to determine the damage and carry out emergency repair work, he said.
The extreme weather hampered the work but the situation was being monitored closely "to bring the line back-up as soon as possible", the official said.
The Hazrat Nizamuddin track was also flooded with rain water.
Source: http://www.zeenews.com/
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