Delhi under water, July rain highest in 18 years
New Delhi/ Gurugram: Late to reach but the south-west monsoon has now brought more rainfall in July than seen in the last 18 years, with Tuesday morning's heavy showers inundating the Capital as commuters tried to navigate waterlogged streets, waterlogging near Dhaula Kuan caused trouble to those going to and from the airport, and traffic came to a crawl in several key junctions.
The IMD said that the Safdarjung observatory recorded over 100mm rainfall in the last 24 hours and that the Capital had received 381mm rainfall in July so far - the highest in 18 years. Tuesday's showers also saw the maximum rainfall in 24 hours in the month of July in eight years.
According to IMD data, the Safdarjung Observatory has gauged 108 per cent excess rainfall so far. Normally, Delhi records 210.6 mm precipitation in July. The all-time record is 632.2 mm precipitation in July, 2003, according to IMD data.
Key road stretches across Delhi, including near Pragati Maidan in the central part of the city and Dhaula Kuan in the southern part were waterlogged, affecting traffic movement.
Waterlogging was also seen at Mathura Road, Moti Bagh, Vikas Marg, Ring Road, Rohtak Road, Sangam Vihar and Kirari, among other places.
Due to the 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, Rohtak Road.
Several commuters also complained of having trouble reaching the airport for their flights in time due to the fallout from the showers. Many others on social media took to highlighting waterlogging in their areas. Even residential areas in Dwarka, adjacent to the airport were inundated.
Public Works Department (PWD) officials said waterlogging complaints were being dealt with on priority.
"Our field staff is on the ground and we are closely observing the situation," a PWD official said.
The Delhi Traffic Police notified commuters that traffic near Qutub Minar Metro station towards the 100-feet road was hit due to waterlogging. The same was the case in Badarpur, Okhla Mandi, RK Puram, and Dhaula Kuan.
Significantly, due to waterlogged roads near the Saket Metro station, the DMRC took to Twitter and announced that trains will be skipping the station until the water is drained and entry and exit gates can be reopened. After a few hours of remaining shut, the Metro station was reopened.
Moreover, at several locations across the city STC bus commuters had to wade through rainwater inside the low-floor buses, which were quickly filled. Several passengers put videos on social media and asked the government to take note of it.
After the rains, the weather turned pleasant in Delhi, with the minimum temperature dipping to 25 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, the IMD said.
Gurugram under water
Meanwhile, neighbouring city Gurugram was once again flooded due to the rains, this time during CM Khattar's inauguration of Hyundai's headquarters.
The usual suspects for waterlogging checked the list with Golf Course Road, DLF Phase-3, Mayfield Garden, Sohna Road, Sector-17, Sukhrali and Mahaveer Chowk inundated and pumping vehicles deployed - affecting traffic.
'Shorter, more intense'
Significantly, Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology), Skymet Weather, the number of rainy days has reduced over the last few years, and extreme weather events have increased. The capital has recorded 14 rainy days this month so far.
"Cities are recording more rainfall in a shorter period of time. Earlier, 100 mm rainfall would occur over three to four days. Now, we have been receiving this much precipitation in just five-six hours, he said.
