You Must Crawl Before You Reach Work

Time of India

23-07-2025

New Delhi: Delhi woke up to rain — and, as usual, an all-out commuter meltdown. The city roads lit up crimson on Google Maps. With waterlogging, slow vehicle movement and scattered disruptions piling up, key arteries like Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, Vasant Kunj Road, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, National Highway 48 and ITO turned into car traps.
By 9am, the capital was a frozen frame — honking, fuming, unmoving.
Motorists became the city's unofficial reporters on Wednesday and X turned into a live traffic bulletin. One user, stuck at Kalindi Kunj, posted, "I think everyone from law enforcement is on holiday today. It's like a mass bunk." Another added with dry humour, "Traffic police are guiding taxpayers on what to do, seriously what's going on?"
Further, Mathura Road, a regular feature in Delhi's congestion chronicles, saw gridlocks worsen by the minute.
Complaints ranged from slow movement to standstills. One commuter tweeted, "Huge traffic jam on Mathura Road. Please organise traffic by sending your people." Another one pleaded, "Mathura Road from Apollo to Nehru Place is completely waterlogged. Very heavy traffic requires immediate action."
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But it wasn't just the volume of traffic. The layered chaos made the situation worse. While some areas struggled due to poor traffic management, others were sinking literally.
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Vasant Kunj and the Mehrauli-Badarpur road both choked with an endless line of vehicles, yet the cause differed. The latter was waterlogged and the space for vehicles was constricted. Car owners shared images of submerged roads, expressing fury in posts that dripped with sarcasm.
"World-class road of Delhi from Badarpur to Sangam Vihar, Batra Hospital. Delhi deserves this kind of infrastructure. Thanks to all authorities," one wrote. Another said, "The result of the administration's remarkable efforts is the waterlogging near Badarpur Metro, drowning all tall claims. The public is suffering — but does anyone care?"
In Vasant Kunj, a single non-functioning traffic signal at Kishangarh Chowk turned the road into a war zone.
"I waited over an hour to cross this stretch. The signal was dead, no traffic police in sight, and people were just doing whatever it took to move ahead," grumbled MNC employee Nandita Banerjee. Another complained, "Not a cop around. Traffic helpline is either busy or not picking up. Despite the kanwar yatra, there's no pre-emptive planning.
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The situation was no better in other places. From Qutub Minar metro station to CV Raman Chowk, Dhaula Kuan to NH48 and all the way to Sardar Patel Marg, the plaints echoed the same theme: when it rains, Delhi breaks down.
The pattern is familiar: heavy congestion, signal failures, stalled vehicles, and waterlogged stretches, especially arterial links. All that the officials have to offer is the roads are flooded, causing vehicles to move slowly while two-wheelers sheltering under flyovers block the carriageways.
Add traffic signal malfunctions and delayed response, and the story is of a system collapse.
"The first problem is, of course, waterlogging.
Desilting takes place during the monsoon. It is sad. In fact, waterlogging reduces the width of the road when the speed of vehicles is already slow," noted Rohit Baluja, director, Institute of Road Traffic Education. "Congestion often starts at junctions or U-turns. When signals fail, a constable should take over immediately. That rarely happens in Delhi."
Of course, waterlogging slows down the pace, but as Baluja pointed out, Delhi lacks traffic management on the ground too, especially during the rains.
Drivers make merry, stealing the right of way at lanes and junctions where enforcement is most important. He contrasted the capital with cities like Mumbai. "There, traffic cops are always present, even in rain, with belted umbrellas. Here, you barely see them," said Baluja.
Other problems add to the problem — pedestrians walking on carriageways, fallen tree branches left uncleared, overflowing drains. "Today, I saw water not just under the IIT flyover, but on top of it. The drains meant to take water down were unopened," disclosed Baluja. "When we know it's going to rain, why aren't we ready for it?"