New Delhi:
Heavy rain greeted Delhi residents to a pleasant morning Thursday, helping the city bring down its rain deficiency for the monsoon season, the lowest in 10 years. The downpour, which was reportedly the heaviest spell of rains this monsoon season, however led to waterlogging in several parts of the national capital, throwing traffic out of gear.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ayanagar weather station recorded 99.2 mm rainfall, the maximum in the city, till 8.30 am. The Palam and Ridge weather stations gauged 93.6 mm and 84.6 mm precipitation respectively.
The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 68 mm rainfall, according to the IMD.
The showers inundated low-lying areas and threw traffic out of gear in several parts of the city. Pictures shared by news agency showed waterlogging near New Delhi Railway Station and at an underpass in the Dwarka in South-West part of the city.
Delhi: Waterlogging at an underpass in Dwarka area following rainfall. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted ‘generally cloudy sky with heavy rain’ in the national capital today. pic.twitter.com/VoD0pfrfAJ
– ANI (@ANI) August 13, 2020
The Delhi Traffic Police reported an incident of a tree being uprooted near the high court, which led to traffic snarls. The Raja Garden and Mayapuri flyovers also witnessed heavy waterlogging.
Traffic Alert
Due to heavy rain a drain has been damaged near Khaira village T point on Dhansa road where underground metro work is going on. For safety point of view traffic movement has been closed on 200 meters stretch of that portion of Dhansa road…1/3
– Delhi Traffic Police (@dtptraffic) August 13, 2020
The weather department has predicted ‘generally cloudy sky with heavy rain’ in the national capital today.
Till Wednesday evening, the city had recorded 72 per cent less rainfall than normal in August so far, the lowest in 10 years, according to the IMD.
The national capital has recorded 35 per cent less rains in the monsoon season so far.
An official at the IMD’s regional forecasting centre said the city witnessed “continuous rains overnight” and more rainfall is expected during the day.
“The axis of monsoon remains close to Delhi-NCR. Also, there is a cyclonic circulation over southwest Uttar Pradesh. Southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea and easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal also fed moisture,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD’s regional forecasting centre.
Light rains will continue over the next two to three days, Mr Srivastava said.
Earlier, the IMD had predicted one or two spells of heavy rains between Tuesday and Thursday.
With inputs from agencies