More rain likely in Gurugram this week

GURUGRAM: The city, after witnessing high temperatures for around a week, is expected to receive light showers on Monday and moderate-to-heavy rain between Tuesday and Friday.
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“For last few days, the region didn’t get rainfall as the monsoon trough is stronger in the northern parts. That is why heavy rainfall is being reported from the foothills of the Himalayas. However, the monsoon trough is likely to move towards the region after July 15 (Monday). Therefore, the Delhi-NCR could witness light rain starting from Monday, and heavy rainfall is expected between Tuesday and Friday,” said a Met official.

On July 24, though the rain brought some relief from the heat, long traffic spoiled it. The city roads were flooded and many commuters were stuck in jams after the showers. Even those who left office early couldn’t manage to avoid snarls and reach home. Though the district administration has reiterated that the city is ready to tackle flooding and resultant traffic snarls, its claims were found to be false several times. Moreover, several master roads across the city are laden with potholes. This, according to commuters, may lead to more snarls when it rains.
On Sunday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 39.8°C while the minimum was logged at 30.4°C. With the forecast of rain, the maximum temperature is likely to dip from 39°C to 35°C. “While the temperature may not dip suddenly on Monday, it is likely to go down to 34-35°C by Thursday and Friday. The minimum temperature, however, may continue to be between 27 and 29°C,” said the Met official. However, the humidity levels are expected to hover between 70% and 100%.
Also, air pollution is likely to go down as rain will help clear particulate matters in the lower atmosphere. For last three days, south-westerly winds from Rajasthan are blowing towards Delhi-NCR, bringing dust particles to the region and thereby leading to an increase in air pollution levels.
“Usually, air pollution level doesn’t go up in Delhi- NCR at this time of the year since rain would clear particulate matters from the atmosphere. However, the air pollution level has gone up suddenly last week due to winds. Because of this, the dust particles are suspended in the middle levels of the air,” he said.
The air quality index (AQI) of the city has been recorded in or close to the poor levels since last Thursday. The AQI was 202 (poor), 193 (moderate), and 216 (poor) on Sunday, Saturday and Friday respectively. According to the SAFAR forecast, the AQI on Monday and Tuesday is likely to be between 215 (poor) and 166 (moderate).