Flooding, snarls: Rain brings city to halt again
Civic bodies maintain that adequate arrangements were in place and the water that accumulated on the Capital’s streets was pumped out immediately
nNEWDELHI: Rain lashed parts of the national Capital on Monday, leading to water logging and traffic snarls at a number of locations across the city.
According to officials of the India Meteorological Department, Delhi received moderate rainfall on Monday with the Safdarjung Observatory, representative of city’s weather, recording 23.2 mm rain. Lodhi Road received 24.6 mm rain while Delhi Ridge got 6.4 mm. Palam received 0.6 mm while Aya Nagar received only traces of rainfall.
The Met department has forecast light to moderate rainfall over the next two days. However, a heavy spell is likely around the same time.
The Delhi traffic police and civic and road-owning agencies said water logging was reported in around 25 places in the city. Some of the locations where water accumulated on roads include Tilak Bridge, Okhla Sabji Mandi, Begampur, Kirari, areas near Batra Hospital, Rajdhani Park Metro station, areas near Adhchini flyover, Bhairon Marg, areas near Lajpat Nagar Metro station, Maharani Bagh, Loni roundabout, Mandoli traffic signal and IP Flyover.
The Public Works Department (PWD) and civic bodies maintained that adequate arrangements were in place and the water that accumulated on main roads and streets was pumped out immediately.
“Immediately after receiving information about water logging, we installed temporary pumps and cleared roads of water within 15-20 minutes. Since the rainfall was not heavy, water logging took place at fewer places than usual,” the PWD official said.
Due to water logging, commuters got stuck in traffic on Mathura Road, Ring Road near Maharani Bagh and Sarai Kale Khan, Vikas Marg, Tilak Bridge, Adhchini, Rohtak Road, Rohini among others.
“There were snarls at a few places due to water logging, but we deployed our staff at those spots to prevent jams from building up,” said a senior traffic police officer.
DELHI TO SEE MORE RAIN
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Delhi, has issued an orange category warning for Tuesday in Delhi. One or two spells of moderate rain and thunderstorms are likely between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning which can cause minor traffic disruptions, according to RMC. An orange category warning implies that disaster management agencies should prepare to avert any rain or flooding-related disasters.
IMD also issued a red category alert for Tuesday in Uttarakhand and east Rajasthan for Wednesday in east Rajasthan, as the monsoon is likely to intensify over northwest India.
A red category warning implies that disaster management agencies should take action against rain or flooding-related disasters.
Delhi had a 13% monsoon deficit as on Monday morning, considered to be normal by IMD.
“We are also expecting some heavy spells of rain in certain parts of Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Overall, the rain is likely to be in the moderate category. The monsoon trough is south of Delhi. For the next three or four days, it’s likely to oscillate near Delhi. Southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea are bringing in a lot of moisture. There is also a cyclonic circulation over northeast Madhya Pradesh. The combination of these factors will bring rain to the entire northwestern region till August 20,” said Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.
There is low pressure over northeast Madhya Pradesh and adjoining areas of north Chhattisgarh and southeast Uttar Pradesh.
It is very likely to move westnorth-westwards and weaken during the next 24 hours.
Due to favourable conditions, IMD is expecting enhanced rainfall activity with heavy to very heavy showers over northwest India, including the western Himalayan region till August 20, IMD said in its Monday bulletin.