Rain continued to lash the city under the influence of the south-west monsoon on Wednesday with the maximum temperature settling at 35 degrees Celsius, which is normal for the season.
The Capital received 26.1 mm of rainfall between 8 a.m. and and 5.30 p.m., and 28.5 mm of rainfall in the preceding 24 hours. The minimum temperature settled at 26 degrees Celsius, which was one degree below normal. The MeT department has forecast partly cloudy sky with light rain or thundershowers on Thursday.
Isolated to scattered rainfall can be expected till July 16 and enhanced rainfall from July 17.
Despite the monsoon arriving over two weeks late, deficit rainfall has been covered and Delhi has now received more than the average rainfall for the season, IMD data show.
The rain was, however, not equally distributed across the city with Palam receiving 2.4 mm on Wednesday while the Ridge recorded 107.4 mm of rainfall.
Waterlogging plaints up
The Public Works Department (PWD) on Wednesday received 10 waterlogging complaints every hour, up from 7 complaints on Tuesday. Significant waterlogging was reported from more than a dozen arterial points located in north and east Delhi, including ITO, with at least 70 calls logged till 5 p.m., the PWD said.
The complaints, according to the PWD, originated in relation to the Azadpur area and Azadpur Mandi, ITO to Bhairon Marg, Jhilmil underpass, GTK bus depot, Nangia Park, Punjabi Bagh underpass, Shahdara and Zahkira among others.
Meanwhile, former North Delhi Mayor Jai Prakash said that the first monsoon rains had exposed all the claims of the Delhi government regarding desilting of major drains under the PWD and other departments.
“Due to the negligence of the departments of Delhi government, waterlogging situation has occurred in many areas including Nabi Karim, Shastri Nagar, Pahari Dheeraj, Inderlok. I have myself helped resolve waterlogging issues at several locations,” Mr. Jai Prakash said.
“The Delhi government has been continuously claiming that all its departments like PWD, Delhi Jal Board, Irrigation and Flood Control, and DSIIDC have completed desilting work but they did nothing,” he also alleged.