Heavy rain lashed Delhi on Friday, inundating roads, triggering widespread waterlogging and bringing traffic to a crawl across the national capital. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), moderate to heavy rainfall was likely to continue through the day before gradually easing from Saturday, with light showers expected over the next two days.
The downpour submerged several roads, particularly in South Delhi, where stretches of Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) Road resembled a river after rainwater accumulated up to three to four feet deep at some locations. Vehicles were stranded, traffic movement was severely affected and commuters were forced to take long detours.
MB Road was among the worst-hit stretches as heavy rain battered South Delhi. The worst waterlogging was reported near Vayusena Bad (Air Force Station), where three to four feet of water submerged parts of the carriageway, bringing traffic to a near standstill.
Several other locations along the arterial road, including Okhla Mor, Sangam Vihar, Khanpur, Deoli and Ambedkar Nagar, also witnessed heavy water accumulation. Traffic between Khanpur and Okhla Mor remained affected for several kilometres as vehicles crawled through flooded roads.
Commuters said motorcycles and auto-rickshaws broke down after entering the waterlogged stretch, while office-goers were left stranded in long traffic queues. Visuals from the area showed motorists struggling to navigate the flooded road, with some Air Force personnel using military trucks to cross the inundated stretch near the Air Force Station.
Apart from MB Road, traffic congestion was reported from several key stretches across Delhi, including ITO, Wazirabad Road, Patel Road, Rohtak Road, Shankar Road, the Kirti Nagar stretch, the Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Peeragarhi and Shaheen Bagh.
Heavy waterlogging was also reported from Vasant Kunj, Sangam Vihar and near the Badarpur Border Metro Station, where several stretches remained submerged after the downpour. Rainwater also entered an underground subway, further disrupting movement.
Traffic also moved slowly in parts of East Delhi, including GT Road, GTB Enclave and Dilshad Garden. Waterlogging was reported from Dakshinpuri, Okhla, Sangam Vihar, Sainik Farms and several other low-lying areas across the city.
The heavy rain also triggered multiple emergency incidents across the national capital, with the Delhi Fire Service responding to several distress calls since late Thursday night.
According to the Delhi Fire Service, nine incidents of house collapses and 16 cases of fallen trees were reported during the day as incessant rain battered the city. Officials said no injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
In one tree-fall incident, three women were trapped inside a house after a tree crashed onto the structure. Fire personnel rescued all three safely.
According to the IMD, Safdarjung, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded 59.2 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on Friday. Lodhi Road received 60.4 mm, Ridge recorded 57 mm, Ayanagar logged 26.2 mm and Palam measured 16.9 mm during the same period.
IMD scientist Ankit said moderate to heavy showers were expected on Friday, while rainfall activity is likely to weaken from Saturday. Light rain is expected over Delhi for the next two days, with rainfall on August 8 and 9 likely to remain in the "light" category.
The IMD has also issued a yellow alert for isolated parts of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and an orange alert for eastern Rajasthan due to the possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall. It further said a low-pressure area is likely to form over eastern India within the next 24 hours, bringing heavy to very heavy rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal and Odisha.
The impact of the heavy rainfall extended beyond Delhi, with adjoining Noida and Gurugram also witnessing severe waterlogging.
In Noida, continuous rain since morning slowed traffic across the city, with waterlogged roads leading to long queues of vehicles at several locations. Congestion intensified during the evening office rush hour, particularly on the road connecting Sector 37 to Sector 18, where vehicles crawled through flooded stretches. Traffic police personnel were deployed at key intersections to regulate traffic and ease congestion.
An ambulance remained stranded for more than 30 minutes in a waterlogged underpass near the Mahamaya Flyover in Noida. The vehicle, which was not carrying any patient, was unable to move through the flooded stretch.
"We have been stuck here for the last half an hour. We have not received any help so far. The ambulance is not carrying any patients," ambulance driver Vijay Srivastava said.
In neighbouring Gurugram, heavy rain disrupted operations at the Civil Hospital after rainwater inundated the basement and entered parts of the ground floor. Hospital authorities suspended all medical services operating from the basement after water reportedly breached sections of the basement walls and flooded treatment areas. The injection room was among the worst-hit facilities.
The hospital premises remained surrounded by water, making access difficult for both patients and staff. Visuals showed rainwater entering medical rooms and flooding corridors, forcing the administration to suspend several services while efforts were underway to drain out the water and restore normal operations. Patients visiting the hospital faced considerable inconvenience due to the disruption.
Source: India Today