Noida: Two hours of rain but not enough to clean up air

NOIDA: A spell of rain that lasted for about two hours left several Noida and Ghaziabad streets waterlogged on Thursday. Both cities received 4-5 mm of rain and in Noida, streets in sectors 62 and 126 and the adjoining areas were waterlogged for some time. The capital witnessed light rain and hailstorm.
The showers, however, did not help the air quality. On Thursday, the AQI in Noida was 316 and in Ghaziabad, it was 326.In Greater Noida, AQI was 308.
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In Noida and Ghaziabad, the downpour started around noon and picked up by 2.30 pm. Snarls were witnessed on the DND flyway and at Noida’s Sector 18 underpass in the afternoon. Some areas in Noida Extension were also congested. In Ghaziabad, parts of Indirapuram and Crossings Republik saw snarls. The rain reduced to a drizzle around 3.30 pm and that lasted till the evening. On Thursday, Noida and Ghaziabad recorded minimum and maximum temperature of 9 and 15 degrees Celsius, respectively. In the evening, visibility in both cities reduced to about 1 km.
Preeti Bhargav, a teacher in Noida, said: “Some children got little wet, as the rain started when several schools were closing around 1.30 pm. Most children did not carry umbrellas.”
Scattered-to-fairly-widespread rain or thunderstorm is “very likely” over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh in the next 48 hours, India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. According to IMD bulletin, a western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation lies over central Pakistan and the neighbourhood, bringing rain to north and parts of central India.
At 9.5 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature in Delhi was two notches above normal while the maximum was 16.4, three notches below normal, a Met official said.