Rains bring mercury down in city; power supply & traffic disrupted

New Delhi/gurugram: Heavy rains and thunderstorm on Monday brought much-needed respite to Delhiites from the lengthy spell of sweltering heat, but affected road and air traffic during the morning rush hours and disrupted power supply in many parts of the national capital.

The rains accompanied by strong winds also brought down houses and trees at some places, leaving at least eight people injured. Waterlogging were also reported from several areas and eight vehicles parked on the roadside were damaged due to tree falling on them, officials said.

The weather department said this was the first moderate-intensity storm of this season for the national capital which has been reeling under unprecedented high temperatures for the past few weeks, crossing the 49-degree mark at one occasion.

Fire officials said eight people were injured in the incidents of house collapse reported from Jwalapuri, Gokalpuri, Shankar Road and Moti Nagar areas of the city.

Weather department officials said the rain and thunderstorms caused a drastic fall in the minimum surface temperature Monday in Delhi which plummeted from 29 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius from 5.40 am to 7 am. The minimum temperature was recorded at 17.2 degrees Celsius, nine notches below the season's average while the maximum temperature was recorded at 31.5 degrees Celsius, eight notches below normal.

The strong winds uprooted trees at nearly 44 locations, according to data shared by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.

In south Delhi's New Moti Bagh, a tree collapsed on a car, but its occupants escaped unhurt. Officials said such incidents were reported from Delhi Cantonment and Dhaula Kuan areas also, but nobody was injured.

There were reports of tree being uprooted in 13 spots in north zone, 10 in south zone, seven in west zone and 11 in Najfagarh zone, according to official data. The gusty winds during the storm led to many instances of power disruption in the city mainly due to trees and branches falling on the overhead electricity lines and poles.

The power outages ranging from a few minutes to several hours were reported from different parts of the city, including Shalimar Bagh, Keshav Puram, Moti Nagar, Bawana, Narela, Mustafabad, Najafgarh, and Dwarka, said officials of power discoms.

"Heavy rains at multiple intervals with storm inflicted damages to the electrical network and caused repeated tripping, leading to disruption in power supply in Narela, Bawana, Badli, Mangolpuri, Kirari, Shalimar Bagh, Keshav Puram and Moti Nagar areas this morning," said a spokesperson of Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited.

He said their team is working to restore the power line in a phased manner. Incidents of power outage were also reported from Motia Khan, Kundli, Nangloi, Paschim Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, Badli, Mangolpuri, Kirari and Keshav Puram.

The rains also caused waterlogging and subsequent traffic snarls on various stretches, including ITO, DND Flyway, Narsinghpur-Jaipur Road and near AIIMS. Waterlogging was also reported from the Pul Prahladpur underpass, Narsinghpur on NH-48, Rao Tula Ram flyover in Vasant Vihar and other areas.

Meanwhile, Faridabad received 9 cm rainfall while Gurugram got 7 cm rainfall. The Gurugram traffic police had also earlier tweeted requesting people to work from home. "We do not have that option, but those who do, may consider exercising the option to work from home," they said.