Rain triggers traffic jams across Delhi; commuters stuck for hours

New Delhi: Traffic came to a crawl in the national capital Tuesday morning after a downpour left several roads waterlogged and many stretches freshly laid with asphalt potholed.

Heavy congestion was reported for several hours from ITO to Old Rohtak Road, Delhi-Jaipur Highway (NH-8), Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Mehrauli-Gurugram Road, Peeragarhi to ISBT, Madhuban Chowk, Delhi-Ghaziabad stretch, and National Highway-9.

The city struggled to drain excess water.

The Mehrauli-Badarpur stretch was among the worst affected, witnessing bumper-to-bumper traffic well into the afternoon, with motorists reporting delays of up to an hour.

Many commuters vented out their frustration on X.

"I travelled to Gurgaon from Delhi at 8 am, was stuck near the airport for hours. Horrible traffic. Covered just 18 km in two hours," said one commuter.

Another X user said, "Meanwhile, I spent 2 hours covering 30 km on the Gurugram-Delhi route. Footpaths are gone, and the cities are overcrowded."

Traffic came to a standstill from Nangloi towards Najafgarh.

Another commuter reported being stuck for over 30 minutes on the Delhi-Ghaziabad road "just to cross a one-kilometre stretch."

Several parts of south Delhi, including roads leading to the AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, and the Ashram area, were choked with traffic.

Many people blamed the Delhi Traffic Police on social media for not issuing timely alerts or deploying personnel to manage the situation.

A commuter commented, "Not a single cop from Delhi Police or Delhi Traffic Police is there to guide. Heavy waterlogging on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road left many people stranded on the road for hours."