New Delhi, July 10 (FN Bureau) The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an ‘orange alert’ for Sunday due to heavy to moderate rainfall across the northwest of the country, including the Delhi-NCR region. The people of Delhi woke up to rain, with the city seeing 153 mm of rain over the past 24 hours, which is the highest in a single day in 41 years. The city had seen 169.9 mm of rain on July 25, 1982, the only time in the last 41 years that the one-day precipitation was higher than in the past 24 hours. Meanwhile, from the corridors of Connaught Place to the wide avenues of Lutyens’ Delhi and areas in the corner of the city like Majnu Ka Tila, roads across the national capital were inundated after the record rainfall on Saturday.
Even as waterlogging-prone areas such as Minto Bridge had to be shut down, the Public Works Department said it logged almost 200 complaints. Flooding was reported from ITO, Majnu Ka Tila, Rohtak Road, the Ring Road, the Pandav Nagar underpass, Purana Qila Road, Sarita Vihar Chowk, and Pragati Maidan on Mathura Road. The Delhi Traffic Police received a total of 56 waterlogging calls. Gurgaon city also woke up to rain, receiving 71 mm of rainfall on Sunday till 8 am, according to IMD. The Indian Metrological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to extremely heavy rain for Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. The IMD said a western disturbance prevailed over northern India, leading to an intense spell of rain yesterday, including in Delhi, which experienced the season’s first heavy rain.
The weather department has issued a “red” alert for seven Himachal Pradesh districts after landslides and flash floods blocked several roads in Shimla, Sirmaur, Lahaul, Spiti, Chamba, and Solan.It has predicted very heavy rainfall in more than nine districts of Rajasthan, including Rajsamand, Jalore, Pali, Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Dausa, Dhaulpur, Jaipur, and Kota. Down south, Incessant rains pounded many areas of Kerala and Karnataka as well. The IMD has issued a “yellow” alert in four districts of Kerala- Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, and Kasaragod.