Heavy rains lash Delhi, throw life out of gear

NEW DELHI: Moderate to heavy rains lashed several parts of the capital on Wednesday throwing the morning traffic out of gear.

Dark clouds had gathered over the capital since early morning giving an indication of heavy rainfall prompting officegoers to pull over a raincoat and arm themselves with umbrellas.

Heavy rains in parts of east Delhi led to traffic jams on the Nizamuddin Bridge over the Yamuna and the busy ITO junction in central Delhi as also parts of south Delhi.

The rains led to waterlogging in several parts, including Lutyens' bungalow zone. The Weather office said the city will experience overcast weather conditions and thundershowers throughout the day.

The morning showers brought down temperatures in the city with the mercury settling at 27 degrees Celsius at 10:00 a.m., after the maximum 34 degrees recorded on Tuesday, it said.

The city had received average 18 mm rainfall on Tuesday, the weatherman said.  Safdarjung area received the maximum 41 mm rainfall followed by Ayanagar (20.2 mm), Ridge (10 mm) and Palam (0.8 mm), he said.

Monsoon had hit Delhi on July nine, 12 days behind schedule after its early onset on May 26 over Kerala. The city has been experiencing rainfall at regular intervals since the monsoon covered the capital. The country has received 14 per cent less rainfall than normal since June one till the week ended July 19.