Heavy rain lashed the Capital on Tuesday causing waterlogging in several areas which further led to traffic snarls.
Safdarjung, the official weather station of the Capital received 100 mm of rain in just three hours before 8.30 a.m. on Tuesday after which it received 1.8 mm of rain. Other weather stations like Palam received 68 mm before 8.30 a.m. and 59.4 during the day.
With Tuesday’s rainfall, the Capital has recorded 381 mm rainfall so far this month which is the highest in July since 2003, according to figures shared by the MeT Department. It is also the heaviest spell of rain recorded in a day since 2013 when Delhi received 123.4 mm rainfall on July 21.
The rain led to a fall in the maximum temperature which settled five degrees below normal at 29.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum settled at 25 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal.
Over 200 complaints
The Public Works Department (PWD) was flooded with almost 200 waterlogging complaints. According to the department, over 11 complaints were received by the PWD control room every hour, totalling to as many as 188 complaints being received from across the city between 1.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Tuesday.
A senior PWD official said Pul Prahladpur underpass was among the affected areas in addition to MB Road, Saket, Sher Shah Suri Marg and Bindapur DDA flats.
Delhi Police Commissioner Balaji Srivastav directed the senior traffic police officers to ensure proper management after traffic congestion was witnessed neat Parliament.
Traffic also had to be diverted after a road caved in at Rafi Marg. The Delhi police took to Twitter asking commuters to avoid certain routes.
Mr. Srivastav through his official Twitter handle tweeted, “Daily heavy traffic jam enroute to Parliament near Rail Bhavan. Needs attention at senior levels of DTP @dtptraffic and proper traffic management.”
Bus breakdown
A senior traffic officer, however, cited the ongoing construction work and a breakdown of a DTC bus at Red Cross Road on Tuesday morning, as the reason for the traffic jam in the area.
The officer said that a deep sewer work is being carried out at Red Cross Road. Half of the road is blocked and only the other half of the stretch is available for vehicular traffic.
Delhi Metro trains did not stop at Saket metro station for a few hours as the area outside the metro station was flooded and passengers could not enter or exit the station conveniently.
Mathura Road, Moti Bagh, Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Rohtak Road, Sangam Vihar and Kirari, were among other places to witness waterlogging.
Traffic crawled at ITO, underneath Moti Bagh metro station, Dhaula Kuan underpass, near Pragati Maidan, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, Ring Road near IP Flyover and Rohtak Road. To decongest the roundabout at Rail Bhawan, the traffic police said they had already diverted buses approaching the road but traffic could not be diverted completely because MPs also travel on the same road to reach Parliament Gate no. 2.
The forecast for July 28 reads “generally cloudy sky with moderate rain/thundershowers”. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle between 28 and 25 degrees respectively.
Monsoon arrived late in the Capital on July 16 missing its normal date of arrival on June 27 but has led to the wettest July with 14 rain days.