New Delhi: The season's heaviest downpour in the national capital on Tuesday morning left thousands stranded for hours in traffic jams as many parts of the city were waterlogged. The Met office has forecast more showers.
The city received 54.5 mm of rain till 8.30 a.m., the season's highest so far, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official said.
"The sky will remain generally cloudy. Some spells of rain are likely in some parts of the city. Some places may see heavy showers," the official said.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be around 31 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively.
The minimum temperature recorded in the morning was 27.8 degrees Celsius, a notch below average for the season.
Humidity stood at 100 percent.
Though the rains brought down the temperature, there was chaos on the roads.
Streets were waterlogged due to clogged drains and traffic crawled, leading to frayed tempers.
Amongst the worst-hit were areas near the parliament and roads leading to Connaught Place in the heart of the city.
"I was stuck for an hour near Connaught Place," said Mukut Sharma, who was riding a two-wheeler.
There were long lines of vehicles near ITO in central Delhi and Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi. Parts of south Delhi, with posh colonies such as Vasant Vihar, fared no better.
The entire Aurobindo Marg stretch in south Delhi, for instance, was jammed, with vehicles turning into colony roads like Green Park. It was a gridlock in many other areas as well.
According to Delhi traffic helpline, vehicular movement was slow in Azad market, Dhaula Kuan in south Delhi and Mori Gate in north Delhi.
A total of 244.4 mm of rain has been recorded in Delhi since monsoon began June-end. The rain deficit is 47 percent.
The monsoon is expected to last in Delhi till Sep 20.
IANS
First Published: Tuesday, August 21, 2012, 11:12