Finally, Monsoon Checks In, Makes Big Splash On Day 1

Tuesday Traffic Crawls On Flooded Roads

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

New Delhi: After a long and agonising wait, the capital finally woke up to monsoon showers on Tuesday, with good spells of rain in the morning and later in the afternoon leading to a welcome drop in temperature and freedom from the oppressively humid heat of the past few days.

There was, however, no relief from traffic chaos. Roads in large parts of the city were already waterlogged by the time people set out for work, leading to frustrating bottlenecks and snarls for stranded commuters.

Arriving 16 days after its normal date, this was Delhi’s most delayed monsoon onset since 2002, when the rain-bearing wind system had entered the capital on July 19. The IMD said the monsoon had covered not just Delhi-NCR but also the remaining parts of the country on Tuesday. Between 7am and 8.30am, Safdarjung – Delhi’s base weather station – received 24.8mm of rainfall. It recorded another 28.1mm in the next nine hours, providing much-needed precipitation to the capital, which was in the “large deficient” rainfall category till Tuesday morning.

Met officials say more rain is expected on Wednesday, with light to moderate showers expected during the day. Conditions will remain ideal for rain throughout the week, the officials added.

Rain cleans up city air, expect more showers today