The Hindu : New Delhi News : Heavy rain disrupts life in the Capital

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Friday, Aug 01, 2008
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New Delhi

Heavy rain disrupts life in the Capital

Staff Reporter

Some relief to citizens from hot conditions

Water-logging at several places added to the woes of motorists
The sudden downpour caught more people off-guard

NEW DELHI: Heavy rain lashed the Capital on Thursday bringing some relief to the citizens from the hot and humid conditions of the past few days.

The sky turned dark around noon leading to heavy rain. The sudden downpour caught more people off-guard as they took shelter under flyovers, bus stands and metro stations. Water-logging at several places added to the woes of motorists.

Hundreds of motorists were stuck in traffic jams for long hours in the heart of the Capital. At some places, traffic virtually came to a standstill because of stalled vehicles on the roads.

“The situation was extremely bad on Bhairon Road because water had accumulated on the railway underpass. Many vehicles came to a grinding halt in the water-logged road,” said Ramesh Sharma, who has his office in Connaught Place.

Kiran Kumar, who left his I.P. Extension house around 1-30 p.m., reached his office near Connaught Place around 3 p.m. “There was a massive traffic jam on the ITO bridge, but the reasons were not clear. I did not see any broken down vehicle on the way,” he said. Reports of water-logging were received from a number of places across the city including Inter-State Bus Terminus, C.G.O. Complex on Lodhi Road, Kashmere Gate, Naraina T-Point, ITO, Mehrauli Road, Dayanand Road, Kishan Ganj, Shahdara, Nigam Bodh Ghat, Dhaula Kuan and Krishna Nagar.

According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, South Zone and Central Zone reported water-logging at three places. The maximum number of complaints -- 22 -- came from Shahdara (North). Civil Lines witnessed water-logging at 12 places. Shahdara (South) reported water-logging at five places. In all, 56 cases of water-logging were reported across the city. Two trees were uprooted on Civil Lines and one in the City zone. Following the rain, the maximum temperature dipped to 31.5 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperature stood at 26.1 degrees. The city received 19 mm of rainfall between 8-30 a.m. and 5-30 p.m.

The weatherman has forecast a cloudy sky on Friday with a few spells of rain or thundershowers.

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