Heaviest rain of season so far cools Delhi

Several parts of Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) received on Sunday the heaviest spell of rain yet for this monsoon season, leading to localised flooding and traffic jams that could have been worse had it been a weekday.

The Safdarjung Observatory, which represents Delhi’s weather, recorded 50.2 mm rainfall between 8.30am and 8.30pm – a level categorised as ‘moderate’. The Aya Nagar weather station had the highest reading at 106 mm.

“The monsoon trough is near Haryana and Punjab, which is close to Delhi. That is triggering the showers. Over the next two days there could be light rain and thunder activity. There could be another spell of ‘moderate’ to ‘heavy’ showers between July 24 and 27,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre (RWFC), India Meteorological Department.

Previously, the day with the most rain was on July 15, when Safdarjung recorded 28.8mm. In all, the month of July – the first of the monsoon months for Delhi – has recorded 102.7mm, which is 20% lower than the normal for the period. Overall, the monsoon is 41% deficient in the national capital.

The maximum temperature was 36.5°C, two notches below the season’s average while minimum temperature settled at 26.8°C, a notch below normal.

Delhi traffic police and the PWD department said that at least 20 calls regarding waterlogging were received at the control room within an hour after it started raining.

Some of the places where waterlogging took place include Tilak Bridge near ITO W-point, Madhuban Chowk on Outer Ring Road, Punjabi Bagh roundabout, Wazirpur, Rail underbridge near Bhairon Marg trisection on the Ring Road, Chatta Rail Bridge near Red Fort, Hanuman Mandir near Kashmere Gate, Rani Khera, and Katwaria Sarai, near Chirag Dilli flyover.

First Published: Jul 22, 2019 00:58 IST