The southwest monsoon was expected to strike northern India on July 29 but it made sluggish progress last week, delaying rains to parts of west and north India. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
People in the national capital woke up to heavy rains and had to face waterlogging and traffic snarls at various places of the city for the second consecutive day on Friday. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Delhi NCR and heavy rains at isolated places across northern India over the next few days.
Delhi-NCR witnessed heavy showers on Thursday as well. Ghaziabad was the worst-affected area with a 12-metre wide road in Vasundhara having caved in resulting in a flood-like situation. This incident forced around 60 families of a nearby housing society to vacate their homes. A week before, 11 people died in two cases of building collapse in Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, reportedly caused by waterlogging and seepage. Waterlogging in parts of Noida, Ghaziabad and Gurgaon had brought traffic movement to a near-halt on Thursday as well.
The IMD said Delhi received about 20 mm of rainfall throughout Thursday throwing life out of gear in Delhi and other adjoining areas.
Meanwhile, all the schools will remain closed in Ghaziabad on Friday owing to adverse weather conditions. However, schools in Delhi and Noida remained opened on Friday.
Welcome to our LIVE blog. Heavy rains lashed the city overnight and continued till the morning. The weatherman has predicted more rainfall during the day. Read on to get further updates.