New Delhi: A brief spell of rain on Wednesday evening triggered widespread traffic snarls across the city, with Vikas Marg among the worst-affected stretches after a reported tree fall. Peak-hour rush combined with rain slowed movement on key corridors, leaving commuters stuck far longer than usual. For many, routine commutes became unpredictable. Ishmeet, 25, who left her office near ITO at 7pm for Noida, expected a one-hour ride but reached home only at 8.45pm after repeated diversions. “It just kept stretching. Every diversion seemed like a shortcut, but it wasn’t,” she said. On Vikas Marg, the congestion was far worse. Megha, from Mayur Vihar Phase I, said the traffic moved at a snail’s pace. “I left the office at 8.40 pm, and by 9.12 pm, I had barely moved 300 metres. The app showed a minor delay, but on the ground, it was complete chaos,” she said. Citywide, the traffic control room received alerts of congestion on 20 stretches till 9pm. Traffic police attributed the gridlock to the combination of rain and peak-hour volume, with Vikas Marg and Dhaula Kuan emerging as major choke points. A tree fall on Vikas Marg and congestion near the Gandhi Nagar–Pusta corridor worsened the situation, sources said.Commuters took to social media to report long delays at ITO, Mother Dairy–Akshardham stretch, Anand Vihar ISBT, NH-24 and the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. Several arterial roads, including Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, Mathura Road, Kalindi Kunj and NH-8 towards Gurgaon, slowed to a crawl. Delhi Traffic Police said teams were deployed at major intersections. Many two-wheeler riders halted under flyovers to take shelter from the rain, reducing road space and adding to congestion, they said.
