GURUGRAM: Residents woke up to an overcast sky as the city received moderate rain with lightning and thunderstorm in several parts on Sunday morning.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a light spell is likely to continue till January 6 and the minimum temperature will continue to remain between 8 to 10 degrees Celsius during this period under the influence of the western disturbance.
“The city is likely to receive light to moderate rain and thunderstorm with a possibility of hailstorm on Monday. There will be gusty winds ranging between 20 to 30 kilometres per hours,” an IMD official said.
Till Sunday morning, Gurugram received 19 mm rainfall, while it was 20 mm in Wazirabad, 15 mm in Manesar, 2 mm in Sohna and 4 mm in Pataudi and Farrukhnagar.
Rain also led to waterlogging in sectors 23, 23A, 10, Palam Vihar, Mayfield Garden, Pataudi road and Sohna road, among other areas on NH-8.
Bhawani Shankar Tripathi, a resident of Sector 23A, said, “It is very sad and shameful situation that the civic body is not able to manage the waterlogging issue in the city. Whether it is monsoon or not, our sector is drowned in sewerage water even after a short spell of rain.”
The air quality index improved to ‘poor’ category, after three days. It was recorded at 260, significantly down from 336 on Saturday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
Meanwhile, rain lashed Delhi too, leading to waterlogging in some parts. According to the Met department, the minimum temperature settled at 9.9 degrees Celsius. Safdarjung observatory — the capital’s base station — recorded 25.1mm rainfall from 8.30am on Saturday to 8.30am on Sunday, and another 14.8mm rainfall till 5.30pm on Sunday.
After the day’s rainfall, Delhi surpassed the monthly average of rain in January in a single day, with the normal rainfall expected over the entire month being 21.7mm.
Delhi had, in January 2020, received 48.1mm rainfall over six days. IMD data showed that the highest single-day rainfall reported in the year’s first month was on January 27, 2017, when the capital recorded 30.3mm rainfall.
The maximum temperature on Sunday dipped to 15.8 degrees Celsius, four notches below the normal.
Meanwhile, IMD has issued an “orange” alert for Monday due to chances of hailstorm and light-to-moderate showers. “Light to moderate rain/thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds (speed 20-30 kmph) is predicted for Monday,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD and head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre.