Yamuna level climbs in Delhi, CM Rekha Gupta says ‘no need to panic’
New Delhi: Delhi witnessed intermittent showers for most of Monday, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an *orange alert* for the city and warn of moderate to heavy downpours.
The Palam airport reported the lowest visibility of 800 metres around 3 pm after an intense spell of rain, down from 2,500 metres half an hour earlier. Till 5.30 pm, Safdarjung — the city’s main observatory — recorded 18.6 mm of rainfall, while Palam logged 30.8 mm, Aya Nagar 48.9 mm and Lodhi Road 16.2 mm, according to IMD data.
The orange alert, a step up from yellow, places the city in “be prepared” mode under the weather department’s colour-coded warning system. Residents were advised to follow precautionary guidelines circulated for such conditions.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology and climate change) at private forecaster Skymet, said the city is likely to see on-and-off showers till September 5. “This spell is being driven both by the monsoon and an unusually active western disturbance, which has been causing heavy rainfall in the Himalayan states and influencing weather in Delhi as well,” he explained.
The rain kept temperatures below the seasonal average, with the maximum at 30.8 degrees Celsius, 3.7 notches under normal, and the minimum at 23.7 degrees Celsius, 2.8 below normal. Humidity oscillated between 90 and 71 per cent. The Central Pollution Control Board reported the Air Quality Index at 60 at 4 pm, placing it in the ‘satisfactory’ category.
For Tuesday, the IMD forecast a cloudy sky with moderate rain. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to hover around 31 and 22 degrees Celsius.
The day’s downpour, however, threw traffic across the capital into disarray. Heavy congestion was reported on several arterial routes, with waterlogging worsening conditions and leaving commuters stranded for long hours.
The situation was particularly severe in South Delhi, including Mahatma Gandhi Road, NH-48 and Captain Gaur Marg, while in Northwest Delhi, Netaji Subhash Place in Pitampura and long stretches of the Outer Ring Road saw vehicles crawling. Press Enclave Marg leading to Max Hospital in Saket witnessed a near standstill, with reports of an ambulance stuck for over half an hour.
Massive jams were also reported on Bahadurgarh Road from Meharban Palace to Bara Tooti Chowk, besides Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, Old Rohtak Road, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Najafgarh Road and the stretch from Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Setu to Jangpura towards Sarai Kale Khan.
