Delhi receives heaviest July rainfall in more than two decades, IMD issues 'yellow' alert
The residential and commercial areas of Delhi were left in mayhem on Saturday after heavy monsoon rains lashed India's national capital leading to overflowing drains, inundated roads, paralysed traffic and massive waterlogging.
The primary weather station of the capital city, Safdarjung Observatory, recorded a 126.1 mm downpour between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.
As per Delhi government officials, more than 100 mm of rainfall was received by the city in a single day which amounted to 15 per cent of the total rainfall that the city gets in every monsoon season.
The officials stated that so much amount of water cannot be drained while the rain is still going on, adding that water will clear rapidly, once the rain stops. As the rain continued in the morning, water gushed into the storerooms of the most famous shopping destination of the national capital, Connaught Place, and the Minto Bridge underpass was closed to traffic because of waterlogging.
Pedestrians and motorists faced a hard time navigating through waterlogged roads, footpaths and flyovers, while traders tried to stop the rainwater from flooding their shops in several areas.
Yellow alert in national capital
This was the first heavy rainfall that the city received in the season of monsoon. On Saturday, an "orange" alert was sounded and a "yellow" alert was issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Sunday.
It stated that 56 calls were made to the traffic department to complain about waterlogging, six calls regarding fallen trees and five others were related to potholes.
People also reported heavy waterlogging from the Tilak Bridge underpass. The traffic police confirmed that there was waterlogging in the Pandav Nagar underpass, Purana Quila Road, Dwarka Link Road, NH-48 near Shiv Murti, Rohtak Road, Vikas Marg, under the AIIMS flyover, under the Moolchand flyover, Mother Teresa Crescent-Sardar Patel Marg and under Tilak Bridge among other places.
A trader at Connaught Place, Amit Gupta, every year the tall claims of Delhi being a Smart City are exposed in monsoon when shops are flooded and losses are faced by the traders.
New Delhi Traders' Association president Atul Bhargava said, "This was the first spell of heavy rain and many shopkeepers are trying to save their goods. The same scene was witnessed during monsoon before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Talking to Twitter, the Delhi Traffic Police informed, "Traffic is affected on Aurobindo Marg in the carriageway from IIT towards PTS Malviya Nagar and vice-versa due to waterlogging. Kindly avoid the stretch. Traffic is affected on Rohtak road in the carriageway from Tikri Border towards Mundka due to waterlogging. Traffic is affected on Ring road in the carriageway from Rajouri Garden towards Punjabi Bagh due to waterlogging near Bharat Darshan park.”
