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Dark clouds, downpour take Delhi by surprise

NEW DELHI: Darkness descended prematurely over the Capital on Wednesday as black clouds gathered overhead in the evening, whipping the city with heavy rain.

Around 5 p.m., dark clouds suddenly enveloped the whole city forcing vehicles to ply with their headlights on. And soon the skies opened up sending people scurrying for shelter under bus shelters, petrol pump and flyovers.

The Meteorological Department registered 7.4 mm of rain till 8-30 p.m. The maximum temperature on Wednesday stood at 34 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature was 24.9 degrees.

“Thursday will be no different,” the weatherman said. “There will be a generally cloudy sky with one or two spells of rain or thunderstorm. There may be heavy showers in some areas.”

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi received 27 complaints of water-logging on Wednesday as against five on Tuesday. The maximum number of complaints were from Civil Lines (seven) followed by Shahdara North (six). Complaints also poured in from the Central, Najafgarh, Rohini and Shahdara (South) zones. Some water-logging problem was also reported at Delhi airport following the heavy downpour but it was soon rectified. “Due to the heavy downpour, some water accumulated in front of Terminal 1B, but it quickly cleared since several steps have been taken to improve the sanitation in and around the terminal,” an airport source said.

Iban Randhawa, a resident of Gurgaon, said: “All roads in Gurgaon and those leading to Delhi were completely jammed. I had to meet my friends, but was forced to shelve the plan. My relatives coming back from office in Delhi advised me not to step out as they themselves had spent a good part of the evening on the road.”

Ramesh Jha, too, was stuck for an excruciatingly long time at the Green Park-AIIMS stretch. “It was very messy. Not only was there water-logging, the problem has been aggravated by the ongoing construction of the Delhi Metro that has further narrowed down the road,” he rued.

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