Heavy rains: 19 people lose lives in Kerala, Delhi records its highest one-day rainfall in 20 years

As many as 19 people have lost their lives and over 10,000 people have been shifted to relief camps in Kerala due to heavy monsoon rains which have been wreaking havoc in the southern state for over one week.

Though the intensity of the rain appeared to decline, some parts of the state continued to receive incessant rains on Saturday morning causing traffic jams and waterlogging in low-lying areas.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), a total of 19 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the southern state till Saturday evening.

“As many as 10,399 people are there in 227 relief camps opened across the state following heavy rains,” a SDMA official told PTI.

As per the figures, as many as 1,100 houses were partially damaged so far and other details of damage were not yet available, the official added.

Meanwhile, Delhi on Saturday witnessed the season’s first very heavy rain and the highest in a day in 20 years causing waterlogging, uprooting trees, damaging vehicles and leading to traffic congestion in several parts, the India Meteorological Department said.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the city’s primary weather station, recorded 126.1 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, the highest since the 24-hour rainfall of 133.4 mm on July 10, 2003, a senior IMD official said. The city logged an all-time high of 266.2 mm on July 21, 1958. Saturday’s was the season’s first heavy spell of rain. A ‘yellow alert’ is in place for Sunday, the IMD said.

The IMD uses four colour codes for weather warnings green (no action needed), yellow (watch and stay updated), orange (be prepared) and red (take action). The maximum temperature settled at 28.7 degrees Celsius, eight notches below the season’s average. The minimum temperature settled at 25 degrees Celsius, three notches below the season’s average, it said.

The relative humidity oscillated between 96 per cent and 100 per cent. The Met office predicted a generally cloudy sky with moderate to heavy rain for Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 30 and 24 degrees Celsius, respectively.

“Light to moderate intensity rain would continue over many places of Delhi and NCR, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Assandh, Safidon, Panipat, Gohana, Gannaur, Meham, Sonipat, Rohtak, Kharkhoda, Bhiwani, Charkhi Dadri, Mattanhail, Jhajjar, Kosali, Sohana, Rewari (Haryana),” the Met office said in a tweet. Police said a 58-year-old woman died coming under the debris of a ceiling of a Tibbia College Society flat that collapsed Saturday morning apparently due to heavy rain.

Several cars were damaged in Delhi’s Kalkaji area after a portion of wall of Deshbandhu college collapsed amid heavy rains. The rain coupled with strong wind uprooted several trees, one of them falling on a car in Delhi’s East of Kailash area. The rain inconvenienced many commuters who faced hardship in reaching their destinations.

Pedestrians and shopkeepers faced trouble due to waterlogging at Connaught Place — one of the most important business and commercial centres of Delhi. “Just a few hours of rain has resulted in such a horrible situation,” said a commuter as incessant rainfall caused waterlogging at outer circle of Connaught Place.

Many commuters were forced to get off their two-wheelers and wade through waterlogged roads. Vehicles crawled and several of them even broke down as the rain-triggered waterlogging led to traffic chaos at several places in the national capital. The PWD said it received 15 complaints of waterlogging since morning.

“Apart from these, we also received complaints about waterlogging on other stretches that are under the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) or other agencies. We forwarded those complaints. The situation is under control so far.

The road around Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College in Delhi University’s north campus witnessed waterlogging, causing inconvenience to commuters,” said a PWD official. Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the ‘satisfactory’ category with a reading of 72 at 7 pm, Central Pollution Control Board data showed.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

With inputs from PTI