Rains are here to stay, no relief for Gurugram till end of week

The IMD has forecast rain and thunderstorms at least till Thursday.

Gurugram’s wet spell is not likely to go anywhere for a while. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rain and thunderstorms are on the cards at least till Thursday.

Vehicles on the Delhi-Jaipur expressway near Gurugram during a rainy spell on Saturday. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are likely to see a few spells of rain or thundershowers, after which we expect the intensity of the rain to go down. While the maximum temperature over the next three days will hover around 30° Celsius, the minimum temperature is likely to be around 25° Celsius,” an IMD spokesperson said.

The monsoon trough is expected to shift slightly southwards before the weekend and, accordingly, rainfall activity will also reduce.

According to the district revenue department’s rain gauge, Gurugram received 18mm of rainfall on Monday afternoon. “It suddenly got dark and started raining heavily. Every time it rains in the city, I hope it’s not a repeat of Tuesday’s (August 28) situation,” said Akshay Narang, a resident of Nirvana Country, Sector 50.

Last Tuesday, the city received 128 mm rainfall. As a result, many parts of the city were left waterlogged. On Monday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 29.8 ° Celsius and the minimum temperature recorded at 25° Celsius. The relative humidity at 5.30pm was 92%. “It became very humid after it rained in the afternoon. These days, it is impossible to step out without witnessing a damp feeling,” Tanya Sharma, a resident of DLF Phase-1, said.

Rain in Delhi-NCR on Monday, which, coincidentally, also happened to be Janmashtami, a festival widely celebrated across the country, led to traffic crawling in the capital city for most part of the day. The downpour, which continued until Monday evening, caused waterlogging in many parts of Delhi too, leaving many arterial roads, lanes and by-lanes flooded.

The recent spells of rain have also brought with them a fresh bout of viral infections. Hospitals in the city reported around 30% rise in cases of viral infections in the past few days.

“Cold, cough and breathing difficulty due to wheezing have all been on the rise over the past few days. The environment becomes conducive for growth of bacteria and viruses with the increase in humidity and dip in temperature,” said Dr Rajiv Dang, director, internal medicine, Max Hospital.

Dang maintained that there has also been an increase in cases of diarrhoea due to the rains. “Outside food is the main culprit. If you are eating outside, make sure you eat something that is piping hot,” he said.