Heavy Rain Causes Rush Hour Chaos In Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad

New Delhi: Heavy rain in Delhi and Gurgaon on Wednesday morning slowed traffic during rush hour as the sky darkened and roads were flooded within seconds.

It poured heavily also in Hyderabad, where officials advised people to stay indoors between 9.30 and 11.30 am. Seven people have died in rain-related accidents in the city.

Massive jams were reported from major roads in Delhi and between the capital and Gurgaon, where the police had warned people early in a tweet to be "patient and disciplined" and "stick to lanes".

US Secretary of State John Kerry, whose visits to religious sites in Delhi were cancelled, joked at IIT: "You guys deserve an award for getting here today. I don't know if you guys came in boats or amphibious vehicles of some kind but I salute you". Mr Kerry was caught in traffic also on Monday, when he arrived to jammed roads from the airport to Delhi.

Army Chief General Dalbir Singh was also stuck in traffic for an hour this morning.

In the first burst of rain on Wednesday morning, angry office goers tweeted about being stuck in the jams that have become synonymous with rain in the capital.  

Time to buy boats to reach office #rains #gurgaon

thatgurgaonboy (@gorkeypatwal) August 31, 2016

Commuters complained of poor visibility and social media was deluged with images of clogged roads.

Many, however, also commented that the crisis was not so bad today as cops and officials were a little more prepared in both cities after 12-hour jams last month.

The Delhi police tweeted about roads that were choked:

Water logging on Ring Road Dhaula Kuan, Bhairon Road towards Mathura Road, Roundabout Teen Murti, IGNOU Road, IP Flyover towards Sarai..1/3

Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) 31 August 2016

 

2/3..Kale Khan, Barapullah flyover towards DND, Ashram Chowk.Ring Road Maharani Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, Sarai Kale Khan,

Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) 31 August 2016

The rain and flooding also led to app-based taxi services declaring that no cabs were available.
 

Many companies in Gurugram asked their employees to work from home as the Millennium city crawled. Closer to afternoon, the police said most roads were cleared and the traffic had eased.

Many people travel between Delhi and Gurugram for work and there were fears of a repeat of  last month's flooding on the National Highway-8 that left thousands of commuters stranded.