Roads, tunnel, underpasses flooded in city

The Pragati Maidan tunnel flooded, so did the underpasses on Mathura Road, and arterial roads across Delhi got submerged even heavy rains pounded the city, exposing, yet again, how poorly equipped the Capital has remained to handle a basic civic problem-drainage. 

The scenes that played out on Saturday are sort of an annual episode for Delhi with roads going under water, crippling traffic movement, threatening the lives of the residents, and damaging public infrastructure.

Traffic police officials shut the Pragati Maidan tunnel soon after water entered the corridor that connects Ring Road with Purana Quila Road.

The incessant rains caused large-scale traffic disruptions across Delhi-NCR with waterlogging reported across city roads even as uprooted trees added to the chaos.

Several commuters termed the situation "a nightmare" after being stuck in traffic jams for hours. Saturday's chaos also raised questions about the city's preparedness ahead of the G20 summit scheduled in September.

The Delhi Traffic Police, which issued updates regarding the affected stretches, said waterlogging and subsequent snarls were reported at 56 different locations on Saturday morning and the afternoon, including the Minto Bridge underpass, which had to be shut down for a few hours.