Commuters had a harrowing time as almost all the busy intersections in the national capital witnessed traffic jams following a heavy downpour which flooded arterial roads in several areas.
There were traffic jams at 54 places, including Saket, ITO, IIT, Adhchini, Arvindo Marg, Ashram Chowk to Sarai Kale Khan near Maharani Bagh bus stand, due to water logging, a senior traffic police official said.
The rains started around 7 PM and within an hour major roads as well as various low-lying localities were water-logged, affecting vehicular movement.
A spell of heavy rains in the morning hours also caused traffic snarls at various places.
Between 8.30 AM to 8.30 PM, the city received 36.8 mm of rains, the Meteorological Department said.
The rains also brought down the temperature considerably. The maximum temperature was recorded at 30.5 degrees Celsius, which was three degrees below normal, while the minimum dropped two degrees below normal to 24.5 deg C.
Earlier in the day, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claimed that there were no reports of water-logging.
After the morning rains, office-goers had a harrowing time as traffic crawled on several arterial roads due to water-logging.
Traffic was heavy due to water-logging at Nizamuddin to Khatta, Savitri to Greater Kailash I, Safdarjung, Sec 12 Ring road near PWD office.
Traffic was moving slow in only one lane at Defence colony flyover due to water-logging at both ends of the bridge. The situation was same at Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, IIT, Adhchini, Arvindo Marg, Ashram Chowk to Sarai Kale Khan near Maharani Bagh bus stand.
Due to water-logging at Pul Prahladpur, the traffic was diverted to Mathura road. Also there were reports of water-logging at Select City Walk area in Saket, August Kranti Marg, Akshardham Mandir Area, Minto Road area.
Massive jams were witnessed in several parts of the city including major intersections such as ITO, Kashmere Gate, South Extension, Laxmi Nagar, Ashram Chowk, Moolchand underpass, Dhaula Kuan, Azad Marg, Gurudwara Nanakpura, Badarpur, Apsara Border, Yamuna Vihar, Okhla Mandi, Uttamnagar, Kajori Chowk and Nehru Place.
Sonal Lalchandani, a commuter said, "I had started from my home in Karol Bagh at around 8.30 AM and it took close to two-and-half hours to reach Lajpat Nagar. Usually it takes only 45-50 minutes".
The humidity level oscillated between 84 and 97 per cent.
Weatherman has predicted a generally cloudy sky tomorrow, with possibility of rains and thundershowers.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to remain around 29 and 25 degrees Celsius.
