More showers expected in Delhi today even as city wades through waterlogged roads

Intermittent rains are expected on Monday too, with a possibility of one or two spells of heavy rain in some parts of Delhi.

Heavy rains since Sunday caused waterlogging in several parts of the city and brought morning to a virtual standstill on many arterial roads. Meteorological scientists said intermittent rains are expected on Monday too, with a possibility of one or two spells of heavy rain in some parts. The intensity would be, however, less than Sunday, they said.

Vehicles wade through a waterlogged road near Turkman Gate in central Delhi. (Amal KS /HT Photo)

On Sunday, the India Meteorological Department’s observatory at Safdarjung, which is considered a representative of Delhi’s weather, received the heaviest spell followed by Lodhi Road and the Ridge area.

The IMD calculates the daily rainfall between 8:30 am on previous day till 8:30 am on the current day.

“Between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm on Sunday, Safdarjung recorded around 35.9 mm rain. The observatories at Lodhi Road and the Ridge recorded around 25.1 mm and 24mm rain. Palam received around 8.7mm rain. There could be more rain at night and hence the day’s total rainfall would be calculated only by Monday 8:30 am,” said an IMD official.

The heaviest rain spell that Delhi has received on a single September-day this decade was on September 10, 2009. The rainfall recorded then was 93.8 mm. The heaviest spell Delhi has ever recorded in September was on September 16, 1904 when it rained 176.5mm in the month.

Monsoon hit Delhi this year on June 28. Between July 1 and August 31, Safdarjung received around 458.3 mm rain, against the normal 492.7mm.

On Saturday too, some parts of Delhi received heavy spells of rain triggering waterlogging and traffic jams. Ajay Maken, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee chief tagged Delhi as the ‘Capital of Waterlogging’. Delhi government refused to react to Maken’s statement.

Several parts of the city remain waterlogged since Sunday morning. Delhi Traffic Police received calls from at least 33 places where waterlogging had slowed down traffic. Reports of waterlogging and heavy traffic snarls poured in from Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Punjabi Bagh, Dilshad Garden, Qutub Road, Munirka, Lajpat Nagar and Ulaanbaatar Marg among other places.

Two days of rain also helped bring down the maximum temperature to around 28 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature stood at 26 degrees Celsius.

Officials said that the rain was triggered by two systems that converged over Delhi and NCR.

“While on one hand a cyclonic circulation had developed over northwest Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas of Haryana, the monsoon trough, which triggers rain wherever it shifts, was also located close to Delhi,” said a senior IMD official.