Uprooted trees cause traffic chaos

New Delhi: The thunderstorm that hit the city on Friday caused major roadblocks as trees fell and branches broke off, obstructing carriageways.
Delhi's Traffic Police was inundated with calls on road obstructions. Traffic police were busy arranging for road clearance at the earliest.
Sources said that among the areas hit were Sardar Patel Marg, Lok Kalyan Marg near Metro Gate No. 1, Chawla Road in Najafgarh, Sector 16 of Rohini, August Kranti Marg, areas around Sarita Vihar, and DDU Marg. "Even Lodhi Garden wasn't spared—a tree collapse in front of Gate 10 led to significant congestion on Lodhi Road, particularly impacting commuters headed to or returning from Nizamuddin railway station. Commuters from Gurgaon to the capital also faced severe delays, especially during peak hours. A tree fell near the Mehrauli Archaeological Park, narrowing traffic to a single carriageway. Traffic towards Chhatarpur was also notably affected."
Agencies and cranes were stretched thin across the city and visibility was low.
Even the social media portal of the traffic police was full of directions to commuters. "Traffic movement is affected in the ITO area after an electric pole fell," the traffic police's social media post said. Another said, "Traffic is affected on Mathura Road in the carriageway from Ashram towards Badarpur due to the uprooting of a tree near Okhla Mor red light. Kindly plan your journey accordingly."
Another post said: "Traffic is affected on Pankha Road in the carriageway from Dabri towards Uttam Nagar due to the uprooting of a tree near A-2 Red Light. Kindly plan your journey accordingly."
Simultaneously, commuters were also sharing their woes on social media, with no options left but to keep standing in traffic queues and honk. For instance, when tagging civic agencies, one commuter said, "Look at the mess you and your govt have left for common people to suffer. Slight drizzle and a big national highway is choked. Not even monsoon."
Several officials from traffic police said they acted fast. By 8.30pm, trees that fell near Mayapuri or Ashoka Road were cleared, and like this, most roads were cleared through cranes in due course of time.