India, Aug. 14 -- On Thursday, Delhi received the second heavy spell of rain of the season, hammering the city's streets and washing away months of civic bravado. Arterial stretches went under, traffic ground to a halt, and the Public Works Department's (PWD) proclamations of "massive desilting" dissolved in brown, churning floodwater.

By mid-morning, swathes of south and central Delhi had turned into sprawling waterlogged pockets. Cars stalled, scooters sputtered, and buses inched forward like stranded ships.

Even areas that had so far escaped flooding this season - critical junctures of the city's traffic flow such as Dhaula Kuan, Subroto Park, Sardar Patel Marg, Saket - were suddenly knee-deep in water.

In south Delhi, Greater Kaila...