Heavy rain lashed several parts of Delhi and the adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) on Tuesday morning, leading to widespread waterlogging and prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue a red alert for the national capital.
Persistent showers under thick cloud cover disrupted normal life in several areas, with water accumulating on roads and low-lying stretches and raising concerns over traffic disruptions during the morning rush hour.
The IMD issued a district-level nowcast warning for North Delhi, Central Delhi, North East Delhi, North West Delhi, West Delhi, South West Delhi, New Delhi, South Delhi, South East Delhi, Shahdara and East Delhi. The red alert was valid until 9:45 a.m.
Heavy showers were reported from several prominent locations, including Parliament Street, Connaught Place, the AIIMS area, ITO, R.K. Puram and Ferozeshah Road.
According to the latest IMD forecast, moderate rainfall is likely at many places across Delhi, with isolated locations expected to receive heavy to extremely heavy showers. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are also likely over the capital.
The warning comes a day after intense rainfall disrupted normal life across Delhi-NCR, causing extensive waterlogging, traffic congestion and disruptions to flight operations.
Gurugram and Faridabad have been placed under a yellow alert, with further rainfall expected in the two NCR cities. Noida remained heavily overcast, although no specific weather warning had been issued for the city.
On Monday, heavy rain brought traffic to a crawl across several parts of Delhi, Gurugram and Noida, with long queues of vehicles reported on major roads as rainwater accumulated on key stretches and low-lying areas.
Air travel was also affected by the adverse weather, with 26 flights cancelled, 15 diverted to other cities and more than 390 delayed during the day.
The latest spell of rain has pushed Delhi’s cumulative monsoon rainfall above normal at several weather stations. Till August 24, Safdarjung recorded 246.2 mm of rainfall against a normal of 191.1 mm, an excess of 29 per cent. Palam received 227.2 mm, or 28 per cent above normal, while Lodi Road recorded 233.2 mm, 22 per cent higher than normal.
The Ridge station logged 243 mm of rainfall, 50 per cent above normal, while Ayanagar received 266.3 mm, an excess of 66 per cent.
The IMD attributed the intense showers to the interaction between a middle- and upper-level western disturbance and a lower-tropospheric trough extending from a low-pressure area over Gangetic West Bengal towards southwest Uttar Pradesh.
(With IANS inputs)
