Heavy rains lash Delhi; waterlogging in many areas

Heavy rains in the early hours of Tuesday left several parts of Delhi waterlogged and traffic crawling.

Many areas received around 100 mm of rainfall or more in the 24-hour period ending 8:30 am.

Ayanagar recorded the highest rainfall at 101.9 mm, followed by the Ridge at 100.4 mm. Safdarjung recorded 99.1 mm, while Lodi Road received 98.3 mm during the 24-hour period. Palam recorded 68 mm of rainfall till 8 am Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

Waterlogging was reported from several parts of the city, including Ashoka Road in Lutyens’ Delhi, Raisina Road, areas around RML Hospital, Parliament Street, Baba Kharak Singh Marg and Connaught Place.

Waterlogging was also reported around the Supreme Court and AIIMS, with vehicles seen being pulled through waterlogged stretches by riders.

Several other areas, including ITO, Moti Bagh, Kamla Nagar and Karol Bagh, also witnessed waterlogging following the heavy rain.

The rainfall brought down minimum temperatures across the city, with all five IMD stations recording temperatures below normal.

The minimum temperature at Safdarjung was 23.5 degrees Celsius, 2.9 degrees below normal. Palam recorded a minimum of 21.8 degrees Celsius, which was 4.3 degrees below normal.

At Lodhi Road, the minimum temperature was 23.6 degrees Celsius, 1.4 degrees below normal, while Ridge recorded 20.8 degrees Celsius, 4.7 degrees below normal.

Ayanagar recorded a minimum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius, 2 degrees below normal.

Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) stood at 100 in the ‘satisfactory’ category at 9 am.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s national AQI scale, an AQI of 0-50 is categorised as ‘good’, 51-100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 as ‘moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400 as ‘very poor’ and 401-500 as ‘severe’.