After Thursday’s rains, one of the worst-affected stretches was the approach road to Indira Gandhi International Airport. Several passengers missed their flights.

One lane on the carriageway near Centaur Hotel near the international terminal of IGI Airport was blocked by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation for construction activity. The potholed road with stagnant water turned into a commuter’s nightmare.

Prakash Sinha, a resident of IP Extension, missed his 11 am flight to Dubai after getting stuck in the long traffic jam leading to the airport. Though he left his house at 7.30 am, Sinha could not make it. “I managed to reach Dhaula Kuan by 9.30 am. But traffic was stuck beyond Dhaula Kuan and I could reach the airport only by 11.15 am.”

The airport helpline was also flooded with phone calls from passengers requesting their flights be delayed as they were stuck in jams. “We’ve received several calls on our helpline numbers from passengers held up in traffic. Most passengers were stuck on the airport approach road near Centaur Hotel,” a DIAL official said.

Water-logging was reported from 93 places and 32 trees were partly or completely uprooted, blocking traffic, an Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) official said. Power-cuts were also reported from some areas as power distribution companies switched off transformers. Six incidents of house or wall collapse were also reported, but there were no casualties, a Delhi fire services official said.

“Our men have been out on the road since 7 am to control traffic. Commuters, however, faced trouble at several places due to water-logging. The worst-affected places were Dhaula Kuan, Moti Bagh, Ring Road and the airport approach road,” Joint commissioner of Police (Traffic) S N Shrivastava said.

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