New Delhi, July 27 - The monsoon's heaviest rainfall in the Indian capital Monday flooded low-lying areas, uprooted trees and snapped traffic lights, causing havoc on the city's even otherwise chaotic roads.

The sweltering city finally got the rains it was praying for. But after it poured and poured, life came to a virtual halt.

The heavy showers began in the afternoon, taking most people by surprise. Within hours, there was disorder on the streets.

A Delhi Traffic Police officer told IANS that traffic lights failed in several areas, causing huge pile-ups of vehicles, at times stretching up to a kilometre.

Some roads and large parts of many roads simply went under water, thanks to choking drains.

In some areas, drain water overflowed on the roads.

'There is a lot of traffic congestion. The signals stopped functioning at several places. In the first two to three hours we got 20 complaints,' the traffic official said.

Complaints of traffic jams came from all over the city. Some of the worst hit areas were near the Rajghat and India Gate in central Delhi and Dhaula Kuan, AIIMS flyover and Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi.

Power outages were reported in many areas after overhead electrical cables collapsed.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) control room was inundated with complaints of flooding in several residential areas.