Delhi rains: Heaviest spell of monsoon season inundates low-lying areas, leads to traffic snarls

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ayanagar weather station recorded 106.9 mm rainfall, the maximum in the city, since Wednesday morning. Hitting back, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey said the BJP-ruled MCD is responsible for cleaning about 98 per cent of the drains in the city.

Delhi witnessed the heaviest spell of rains this monsoon season on Thursday, inundating low-lying areas and throwing traffic out of gear. The rain which began on Wednesday night continued until Thursday morning. Pictures and videos of vehicles stuck in traffic jams and people wading through waist-deep water in some areas were widely shared on the social media. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ayanagar weather station recorded 106.9 mm rainfall, the maximum in the city, since Wednesday morning.  The Palam and Ridge weather stations gauged 99.9 mm and 98.2 mm precipitation respectively during the same period.  The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 83.8 mm rainfall since Wednesday morning, according to the IMD. Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate and above 64.5 mm is heavy. Meanwhile, Thursday's maximum temperature slumped to 28.9 degrees Celsius, five notches below the season's average.  The IMD has forecast thunderstorm in the national capital in the next 24 hours. "Moderate to severe thunderstorm accompanied with lightning is very likely at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, east Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh during next 24 hours," the IMD said. Forty-one locations in north Delhi got inundated due to the downpour, including areas in Mukherjee Nagar, Fateh Puri, Burari, Rohini, Narela and West Patel Nagar, according to the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC). Waterlogging was also reported from parts of Okhla and Malviya Nagar in south Delhi, Raja Garden and Mayapuri flyovers in west Delhi and Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi. Vehicles moved at a snail's pace during the morning rush hour at several places as the downpour led to heavy waterlogging at key road stretches. The incessant rains damaged a drain near Khaira village on Dhansa road where metro construction work is going on, the traffic police said, adding that the affected 200-meter stretch of the road had to be closed for traffic.

Besides, parts of buildings collapsed at eight places and trees fell at seven locations, it said. The Delhi Traffic Police reported an incident of a tree being uprooted near the high court, which led to traffic snarls. Last month, the driver of a mini truck had drowned after the vehicle got submerged under the Minto Bridge in central Delhi following a heavy downpour. A war of words broke out between the ruling AAP and the opposition BJP and Congress over waterlogging in the national capital.  Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta tweeted a video of Tuglaqabad underpass where a group of people were seen crossing a stretch of flooded road on a bullock cart. At one point of time some people lost balance and fell off the cart. Another bus was also trapped at the spot. Along with the video clip, he tweeted, "Due to waterlogging, Tughalaqabad people are resorting to riding a bullock cart. Delhi is jammed and the AAP government is responsible for it. Delhi is suffering due to failed policies of the Arvind Kejriwal government."  Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar too tweeted the same video and rhetorically asked the chief minister who will be held responsible for it. "Delhi, our Delhi. Just thinking who will Kejriwalji hold responsible for this (waterlogging). Will Nehru again have to go to the witness box? One thing is sure, Kejriwal ji will not work," Kumar tweeted in Hindi.  Hitting back, AAP MLA Dilip Pandey said the BJP-ruled MCD is responsible for cleaning about 98 per cent of the drains in the city.  “The Delhi government has sanctioned the money for it. The only task of MCD was to clean up Delhi. We all know how corrupt the municipal corporations of Delhi under the Bharatiya Janata Party are," Pandey said. "If you want to find out the work done by the BJP-led MCDs, you should look into the flooded drains of Delhi. It is very clear that the BJP-led MCDs have not cleaned a single drain," Pandey told reporters at a press conference.

The downpour also brought down the rain deficiency in the national capital.  Till Wednesday evening, the Safdarjung Observatory had recorded 72 per cent less rainfall than normal in August, the lowest in 10 years, according to the IMD. The shortage reduced to 14 percent by Thursday morning. Overall, Delhi has recorded 7 per cent more rains in the monsoon season so far. Kuldeep Srivastava, the head of the IMD's regional forecasting centre, said the city witnessed "continuous rains overnight". "The axis of monsoon remains close to Delhi-NCR. Also, there is a cyclonic circulation over southwest Uttar Pradesh. South-westerly winds from the Arabian Sea and easterly winds from the Bay of Bengal also fed moisture," he said. Light rains will continue over the next two to three days, Srivastava said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)