Heavy rain brought large parts of the national capital to a standstill on Friday, submerging arterial roads under up to four feet of water, leaving vehicles stranded, choking traffic and inundating residential colonies as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert.From the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road in south Delhi to Mahipalpur, Minto Road, ITO, Shakarpur and Chhatarpur, roads disappeared beneath rainwater as commuters remained trapped in traffic for hours, motorists abandoned flooded stretches and office-goers struggled to book cabs.Some of the worst flooding was reported on the Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) Road near Vayusena Bad (Air Force Station), where water accumulated up to three to four feet deep, reducing one of south Delhi’s busiest corridors into what residents described as a river.Traffic crawled for kilometres between Khanpur and Okhla Mor, while adjoining stretches at Sangam Vihar, Deoli and Ambedkar Nagar also remained inundated.In Fatehpur Beri’s Valmiki Basti, residents waded through waist-deep water while schoolchildren, unable to cross flooded lanes, were carried by locals on a large blue plastic sheet used as a makeshift raft.Several homes were inundated, with families saying food stocks and household belongings were damaged.The downpour triggered a flood of civic complaints across the capital. Authorities received at least 67 rain-related complaints, including incidents of waterlogging, fallen trees and power outages.Continuous rain led to severe waterlogging in several neighbourhoods, including areas around the Red Fort, Chhatarpur Farm, Mehram Nagar near Terminal 1 and Sainik Farms.At Mahipalpur T-Point, waterlogging affected traffic heading towards the airport, Gurugram, Chhatarpur and Vasant Vihar, while commuters also reported long delays near the Pusa Road roundabout.Visuals from Chhatarpur showed school students wading through knee-deep water as vehicles crawled along submerged stretches of the MB Road. Severe waterlogging was also reported at the Delhi Police’s Narcotics office in south Delhi.In east Delhi’s Shakarpur and neighbouring Mandawali, e-rickshaw drivers said submerged potholes, overflowing drains and waterlogged roads had led to multiple accidents and sharply affected their earnings.”There are many difficulties. Potholes get submerged and sewer pits cannot be seen. At least three or four vehicles have overturned today, including e-rickshaws, scooters and motorcycles,” an e-rickshaw driver told PTI.Alleging that drains were poorly designed and clogged with debris, he said rainwater failed to drain after every spell.”Our earnings have fallen sharply. If we earlier earned Rs 600 in a day, now we earn Rs 200 or Rs 300. Water enters the battery. If an e-rickshaw overturns, especially one with a lithium battery, the loss can be Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000,” he said.Residents of Fatehpur Beri said flooding had become a recurring problem for decades.”This is Valmiki Basti inside Fatehpur Beri village. Several families are affected whenever it rains. There is a government drain here, but further ahead farmhouse owners have blocked it,” resident Rishipal Mashe told PTI.Another resident said nearly five feet of water had inundated the village, entering homes and damaging food and household belongings.According to the MCD’s Central Control Room, tree-fall incidents were reported from Keshavpuram, South, Central, West and Civil Lines zones. The NDMC received 34 rain-related complaints, including 15 cases of waterlogging, five tree-fall incidents and 14 power outages, while the PWD logged 22 complaints of waterlogging.Waterlogging complaints in the NDMC area were reported from Lodhi Road, Jattvibeehari Bagh Road, RK Ashram Marg, Minto Road Bridge, Rajiv Chowk Metro, Safdarjung Flyover, Lady Hardinge Medical College, Moti Bagh, Talkatora Garden, Race Course Road and Sarojini Nagar. Tree-fall incidents were reported from Lady Hardinge Medical College, Yashwant Place in Chanakyapuri, RML Hospital and Jam Nagar House.The heavy rain also triggered political sparring, with the Delhi Congress blaming the BJP-led Centre, the Delhi government and the MCD for the widespread flooding.Senior Congress leader and former MLA Mukesh Sharma alleged that desilting of drains existed only on paper and said the “triple-engine government” had failed to prevent waterlogging despite repeated assurances.”There is hardly any road in Delhi — whether in densely populated colonies, residential localities, villages or urban areas — that is free from waterlogging. The government’s repeated claims that Delhi would remain free from waterlogging have proved to be completely hollow,” he said.The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in a post on X, said the BJP “never tires of taking credit” for resolving waterlogging at Minto Bridge while ignoring flooding elsewhere in the city.”There was no immediate statement from the Rekha Gupta-led Delhi government on the opposition’s allegations.The IMD said Delhi was likely to witness moderate rain at many places and heavy rain at isolated locations accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning over the next few hours.According to the weather office, Pushp Vihar recorded the highest rainfall at 111.5 mm, followed by Chhatarpur (104.5 mm), Ayanagar (87.4 mm), Palam (73.5 mm), Janakpuri (68 mm), Jharoda Kalan (67 mm), Pusa (59.5 mm), Safdarjung (57.3 mm), Narayana (53 mm), Ridge (49.6 mm), Lodi Road (49.3 mm), Mayur Vihar (36 mm), Najafgarh (24 mm) and Jafarpur (13.5 mm) between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.Delhi received 127 mm of rainfall during the first week of August, making it the wettest first week of the month since 2011, according to IMD data.