Delhi logs rainiest August since 2010, commuters battle waterlogged roads and traffic

This is the rainiest August since 2010, when the city received 455.8 mm of rainfall. Last August, Delhi had reported 390.3 mm of rain, which was then recorded as the highest since 2010.

“Active monsoon conditions are likely to prevail over Delhi during the next five days,” the IMD said in its weather bulletin later in the day.

Friday morning saw heavy rain lashing Delhi as well as Noida.

Commuters in Delhi were stuck in traffic at several locations during the day.

Traffic was affected on the Delhi-Noida-Direct (DND) flyway, Mathura Road, Vikas Marg, ITO, ISBT, Geeta Colony, Sarai Kale Khan, Pragati Maidan, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Akshardham, Rohtak Road, Peeragarhi Road, Delhi-Jaipur Highway, Madhuban Chowk, MB Road, MG Road, Dhaula Kuan and Rajaram Kohli Marg, an official of the Delhi Traffic Police said.

Friday morning saw heavy rain lashing Delhi. India Meteorological Department has forecast ‘active monsoon conditions’ during the next five days in Delhi (Express/Praveen Khanna)

Waterlogging was reported in Patparganj, Laxmi Nagar, AIIMS, Geeta Colony and Sanjay Lake. According to PWD officials, complaints of waterlogging were also received from Libaspur, Sarai Kale Khan, Roop Nagar and Saket Main Road. Near ITO at Tilak Bridge, a portion of road was damaged due to rainfall, they added.

The AAP, meanwhile, hit out at the Delhi BJP government.

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly and AAP leader Atishi said, “After just a short spell of rain, Delhi’s roads and streets are turning into rivers. In six months, the BJP’s four-engine government has submerged Delhi…”

“Look at the condition of Sanjay Lake… the surrounding areas spanning several kilometres have turned into a lake. Ever since the BJP came to power, the number of lakes in Delhi has increased. The BJP government is working very hard, creating more lakes across the city,” AAP Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said.

He also questioned the chief minister over desilting and audit reports. “I have a question for the CM of Delhi: Has there been corruption in desilting? Why are you running away from a third-party audit of the desilting work?”

3 schoolchildren injured as wall collapses

Amid the downpour on Friday, three children returning home from school narrowly escaped death after a wall of an abandoned house collapsed in East Delhi’s Mandawali.

The children — Pankaj (8), Dhruv (10) and Aadi (8) — suffered minor injuries and were taken to Lal Bahadur Shastri hospital, said police. Officers said they received a call at 12.58 pm about the incident. “A woman said that the wall of a locked house had collapsed and some schoolchildren were trapped under it,” a senior officer said.