Rains wreak havoc on roads, bring traffic to grinding halt

Heavy rains continued lashing the national Capital on Monday, with many parts of the city witnessing traffic snarls due to water logging.

Though the weather was initially sunny in the morning, heavy rains were reported in several parts of Delhi-NCR in the afternoon and evening. India Meteorological Department has predicted that rains will continue till Wednesday.

Heavy showers on Sunday had led to water-logging in various places of Delhi, and Monday's showers nearly brought the city traffic to a standstill. Many key roads and residential areas were waterlogged during peak hours.

According to the MeT, if the rains are to continue with the same intensity, the city is likely to suffer from traffic snarls for the next few days.

According to Delhi Traffic Police, traffic was heavy from Karkari towards ITO in the morning. Busy points, like Laxmi Nagar, Nirman Vihar and Ashram witnessed the most traffic. Water-logging near Harkesh Nagar bus stand brought traffic to a halt at the Mathura Road.

Movement of vehicles was also slow at Mayur Vihar, Munrika, and Hauz Khas, leaving office and school goers stuck in massive jams.

Though the MeT Department has predicted a good monsoon, the increasing traffic jam has become a nightmare for several commuters.

"I reached office four hours late due to the heavy traffic in south Delhi. I am happy with the monsoon, but not with the traffic jam," said Utsav Basu, a resident of Chittaranjan Park.

According to reports till 9 pm Monday, nearly 5 mm rainfall was recorded. The maximum temperature of the day was 37° Celsius.

However, the MeT noted that humidity of the city will not go down soon.

According to the predictions, rains will continue the entire week. Heavy showers are likely to end after Wednesday, but medium showers will continue.

A senior official of the MeT Department said, "Delhi is witnessing full monsoon and it will continue until the end of August."

He said that the temperature will not drop much due to the rain and will be within 30-36° Celsius. The official, however, assured that days will be comfortable.

Humidity was recorded to be in the last 24 hours, between 65 and 97 per cent.

The MeT department noted that next week, the monsoon trough is likely to shift towards the North, leading to increased rainfall.

The monthly average rainfall for Delhi will be 187 mm. According to data till July 19, Delhi received 203.1 mm of rainfall. Last week, the city saw 14.7 mm of rainfall.