Downpour leaves Delhi in a mess pool

Delhiites were denied outings on a Sunday as vehicles were stalled on waterlogged roads. Traffic went haywire. Heavy rain in Punjab and Haryana increased the inflow of water into rivers which were already in spate.

In the capital, at least two buildings collapsed due to rain at Motia Khan and Badarpur Khadar leaving some people injured while heavy showers led to the closure of Nigambodh Ghat, a prominent crematorium in north Delhi.

The downpour started at 8:30 am and the rain gauges measured 19.7 mm in just three hours. Till 5:30 pm, the city got 26.8 mm of rains. For a period of 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, the rain gauge measured 17.3 mm. The city has received over 860 mm of rain since July 5 when the south-west monsoon hit the capital.

Officials in Haryana said the situation is under control, even as 50,000 cusecs of water is passing through Hathni Kund and Tajewala headworks in Yamunanagar district.  The water level in the flood-hit villages of Yamunanagar, Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat, Sonepat, Fatehabad, Ropar and Patiala is receding even as the Army, civil administration and NGOs are engaged in relief and rescue operations.

The traffic on national highways—Ambala-Shaharanpur, Yamunanagar-Poanta Sahib and Ambala-Hisar—is normal, officials said. Repairing of damaged roads is in progress. Meanwhile, in the north-eastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, at least 10 people have lost their lives and 300 have been displaced in flash floods and landslides triggered by heavy rain, officials said on Sunday.

The rain triggered mudslides and flooding in at least three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, washing away bridges, huts and school buildings, besides devastating agriculture crops, a government spokesperson said.