Cars damaged, trees uprooted as heavy rains, winds batter Delhi

A fallen traffic booth at Raisina road after a dust storm accompanied by rainfall, in New Delhi. Pic/Pallav Paliwal

Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds damaged many cars, brought traffic to a grinding halt, left trees uprooted and led to power outages in various parts of the capital on Monday.

The rains also led to waterlogging in several areas of the capital.

Some visuals posted on social media also showed cars shaking in the gusty winds. Delhi recorded 17.8 mm of rainfall till 5.30 pm, according to the Met department.

Visuals of trees getting uprooted surfaced on social media following the rains. At many places, vehicles were damaged after the trees fell on them owing to strong winds.

West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma's car was also damaged after branches of a free fell on the vehicle parked at his official residence at Windsor Place.

"Till 7.15 pm, a total of 101 complaints were received about uprooted trees and broken branches. Work is on to clear the areas where such incidents have been witnessed. Several areas, including Bhagwan Das road, Connaught Place, SP Marg, have already been cleared," a senior NDMC official said.

A red-color Volkswagen car was damaged after a piece of metal pierced its windshield. Visuals of another car trapped under an uprooted tree at Connaught Place also circulated on social media.

Several trees were also uprooted inside the Jamia Millia Islamia where walls of the building were also damaged, officials said.

The heavy rains and wind also damaged flags installed by the Delhi government at various locations.

Trees were also uprooted on the Bhai Vir Singh Marg in Gole Market area near the Nepal Embassy and also near the Parliament Street police station leading to obstruction in traffic.

The Kasturba Gandhi Marg was completely closed for vehicular movement after trees were uprooted there.

There were also visuals of poles damaging vehicle in the capital's South Extension market while a Delhi Traffic Police booth at Vijay Chowk fell owing to strong winds.

Social media users tagged Delhi Traffic Police by sharing photos of various locations where trees had been uprooted.

The Delhi Police also assured people that their issues were being taken care of. The wind was so strong that an air conditioners fell off a building on the Parliament Street, causing damage to cars and auto-rickshaws.

The historic Jama Masjid had its finial broken and also suffered other damages in the storm.

Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bhkhari said two people were injured as stones became loose and fell down from one of the minarets and other parts of the mosque.

According to Delhi Fire Service, eight calls of house collapse have been reported and their vehicles have gone to the spots.

Commuters had a difficult time as traffic snarls were reported near ITO, AIIMS flyover, DND.

Waterlogging was also reported from various areas in the national capital.

"Traffic is affected on MB Road (Both carriageway) due to waterlogging at Railway Underpass Pul Prahladpur. Kindly avoid the stretch," the Delhi Traffic Police said in a tweet.

Mahesh Kumar, an auto driver stuck in the heavy traffic Jam on the Jai Singh Marg said, "I started from the High Court. After seeing traffic on reaching Ashoka road where tress had fallen, I took several other routes to finally reach Jai Singh Marg but have been stuck for the last 1.30 hours. Every route I took, I saw traffic jams."

Another commuter Vinay Yadav, said they have been stuck on the Jai Singh Marg for over two hours.

"I came from Rajender Palace area and since trees have fallen, we are stuck in traffic. I need to reach home at Sarita Vihar. With this volume of traffic, I don't think I would reach home anytime soon," Kumar said.

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