Delhi: Third heavy rainfall day, result as expected

NEW DELHI: While the skies were clear during the day, the situation in the capital changed quickly by the afternoon on Thursday. A three-hour spell between 2:30 pm and 5:30 pm brought 72mm of rainfall at Safdarjung, making it the third ‘heavy’ rainfall day of the season.
Lodhi Road received 73.4mm of rainfall during the same period as intense showers lashed Delhi, catching commuters off-guard and causing waterlogging in a matter of minutes at several locations.Various arterial roads in the city faced waterlogging and witnessed traffic disruptions. Waterlogging was observed in places like Khyber Pass, Dilli Gate, Ring Road, Yamuna Bazar, between Signature Bridge and Yamuna Vihar, and ITO. Near AIIMS flyover, traffic snarls were observed due to very heavy waterlogging and even ambulances could be seen stuck in the traffic tangle.
Several roads in Civil Lines, Hauz Khas, Moti Bagh and Jor Bagh areas were inundated. Evening showers also led to water getting accumulated on roads inside the Delhi assembly complex. In east Delhi, waterlogging complaints were received from New Govindpura, Gandhi Park and Krishna Nagar.
Delhi Traffic Police issued an alert late evening regarding obstruction in traffic in the carriageway from Signature Bridge towards Yamuna Vihar due to waterlogging. The public works department has asked Delhiites to report waterlogging cases on its helpline numbers — 011-23490323 and 1800-11-0093.
With Thursday’s rain spell, Safdarjung, the base station for Delhi, has now received 463.5mm of rainfall – more than double for what is normal for the month (210.6mm).
India Meteorological Department had on Wednesday issued an ‘orange’ alert, forecasting moderate rainfall across the city. While the alert was downgraded in the morning to the ‘yellow’ category, IMD by the afternoon once again issued an orange alert, forecasting ‘heavy rainfall’ in places of Delhi. IMD classifies rainfall as ‘heavy’ if it is above 64.5mm in a 24-hour duration.
On Tuesday morning, Safdarjung had recorded 100mm of rainfall, while the first ‘heavy rainfall’ spell of the season for Delhi was on July 19, when Safdarjung received 69.6mm of rainfall. IMD data showed till 8:30 am on Thursday, light to moderate rainfall had been recorded in the last 24 hours across Delhi’s weather stations, including 27mm at Palam, 6mm at Lodhi Road, 32.9mm at Ridge, 5.2mm at Safdarjung and 22.8 at Ayanagar. However, Jafarpur in southwest Delhi had received 133mm of rainfall, which falls in the ‘very heavy rainfall’ category and is the highest rainfall recorded at a station this monsoon season.
Thursday’s spell, meanwhile, began after 2:30 pm. Both Safdarjung and Lodhi Road received ‘heavy rainfall’ till 5:30 pm, while moderate rainfall of 49.8 and 34.8mm was captured in the three-hour spell at Ridge and Ayanagar stations, respectively.
Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD, said heavy localised activity was observed over Safdarjung and Lodhi Road with rainfall even giving a skip at some locations. “We saw light rainfall, moderate rainfall and no rainfall too,” said Srivastava, adding that “the monsoon trough will be near Delhi for the next few days and more rainfall is expected.”
IMD has forecast ‘moderate’ rainfall for the next four days, stating some parts may record heavy rainfall during this spell, while other locations may record drizzle activity. “The spread over Delhi can sometimes be uneven, like on Thursday. While some stations may receive heavy rainfall again, it is safe to say large parts of Delhi are expected to see moderate rainfall activity in the coming days,” said Srivastava.
Thursday’s rain spell kept Delhi’s air quality in the lower half of the ‘satisfactory’ category with an overall Air Quality Index of 63.