Heavy rainfall lashed Delhi and its neighbouring areas for a second straight day on Saturday, disrupting normal life and forcing the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issue a yellow alert, forecasting more showers across the national capital region (NCR) throughout the day.
The weather, however, is likely to improve on Sunday and the region will witness a dry spell till September 8, the meteorological department said. However, the IMD has advised people to remain cautious and take necessary precautions for Saturday, as heavy rains accompanied by thundershowers would continue the entire day.
The heavy rains would also continue in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh's Noida and Ghaziabad, and Haryana's Gurugram and Faridabad, the IMD forecast said. It noted a well-marked and low pressure area over the region is causing the widespread and heavy rains.
Further, isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over eastern Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh, Chandigarh and western Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, the IMD warned.
Waterlogging, traffic snarls in capital
The capital was lashed by heavy rainfall on Friday, causing waterlogging and disrupting traffic across the region. Parts of Delhi and Gurugram were particularly were traffic snarls were reported at many prominent locations such as Connaught Place (CP), Lutyens' Delhi, ITO, Cyber City commercial hub, Shankar Chowk and Sheetla Mata Road.
Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport were also disrupted, leaving many commuters frustrated.
"Delhi Airport witnessed heavy rainfall this afternoon; as a result, the approach road and forecourt areas experienced water accumulation. The accumulated water was cleared within some time. The inclement weather also impacted flight operations, which led to the delays and diversion of some flights," the Delhi airport said in a statement.
The air quality index (AQI) also improved in the capital following the rainfall. As per the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI was recorded at 71, which falls in the 'satisfactory' category, on Friday. A reading between 0 and 50 as 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor' and 401 and 500 as 'severe', as per the CPCB.
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