‘Orange’ alert in Gurgaon today; mercury to rise next week

Gurgaon: Several parts of the city received moderate rain on Saturday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange’ alert for Sunday, when moderate rain and thunderstorms are expected.
According to IMD, intermittent rain is likely in the next two to three days. “The monsoon trough is likely to shift north, leading to more rainfall activities in northern states,” an official said.
While rain started early on Saturday morning in some areas, a short but intense spell of rain was reported around 11.30am, which lasted for about half an hour. Many low-lying areas such as sectors 9, 9A and 37 and Basai Road were inundated following the showers, but traffic largely remained unaffected.
“It rained for only around 20 minutes, but the streets and vacant plots were flooded with rainwater. Cleaning of sewer lines has only done on paper. It is very disappointing to witness waterlogging after slight rain,” said Manbeer Singh, a resident of Sector 9A.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) deteriorated slightly to ‘moderate’ on Saturday. The overall AQI reading was 111, against 93 (‘satisfactory’) on Friday.
While IMD’s observatory in the city could not record Saturday’s rainfall, data from the district administration showed Gurgaon recorded 14mm rain till 5pm on Saturday.
According to IMD, between August 1 and 7, the city received only 30.8mm of rainfall, a deficit of 42% compared to the normal of 53.5mm. Between June 1 and August 7, however, Gurgaon received 427.2 mm of rainfall as against the season’s normal of 275mm, an excess of 55%.
The rain and cloudy skies throughout the day led to a fall in the daytime temperature by two notches to 32.4 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was recorded at 23.4 degrees. According to IMD, the maximum temperature during the next six days is likely to hover between 34 and 37 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature will settle between 25 and 26 degrees.
Meanwhile, Delhi too received light to moderate rain on Saturday. The brief spells of rain led to waterlogging in several parts of the capital. Traffic jams were reported near Vikas Minar at ITO.