Light to moderate rain, thunderstorms forecast in Delhi and NCR

Delhi will receive light to moderate rainfall on Tuesday accompanied by thunderstorms, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted. Adjoining areas of Delhi like Gurugram, Faridabad, Hindon Air Force Station, Noida, Ghaziabad and those in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh will also witness thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain in the next two hours, IMD said.

"Thunderstorm with light to moderate intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of many places of Delhi ( Punjabi Bagh, Rajauri Garden, Patel Nagar, Red fort, ITO, President House, India Gate, Delhi Cantt, Lodi Road, Safdarjung, R K Puram," IMD tweeted.

The moderate rains are likely to continue through the rest of the day, IMD officials told HT. However, from Tuesday onward, the temperatures are likely to rise by a few degrees.

“Light rainfall is likely on Tuesday as well. However, the activity will slow down thereafter and may pick up again on July 23-24,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.

In what was termed as an 'early monsoon' prediction, rains reached Delhi on July 13 - the longest such delay in recent history. It was earlier predicted to reach Delhi by the end of June.

However, even after moderate showers on the first two days of its onset, the city got only “traces” of rainfall, despite predictions of light rain and thundershowers, and an “orange alert” that was issued for the weekend.

However, Delhi covered the deficit on Monday after heavy showers lashed the city throughout the day. The Capital covered the rainfall deficit of nearly 51% recorded till Saturday ending the heatwave spell it was reeling under.

Delhi and NCR received incessant rainfall on Monday morning, resulting in waterlogging affecting vehicular movement in Gurugram, Noida and Delhi. Severe waterlogging was also reported in Gurugram's Southern Peripheral Road (SPR) due to heavy rainfall, while vehicles were seen partially submerged in water in Sector 10.

The early morning showers that continued throughout the day led to roads being inundated, the Delhi Police said. While traffic was diverted at several places, some areas were barricaded because of a portion of the road caving in.

There are around 150 waterlogging-prone stretches across the city, of which civic authorities consider five crucial — Minto Bridge, Pul Prahladpur, Zakhira, Moolchand and Peeragarhi.