Delhi pollution: Air quality continues to be in ‘poor’ category
A thin layer of smog engulfed the Delhi-NCR on Wednesday as the air quality continued to be in the ‘poor’ category amid the Diwali festivities.
The national capital and adjoining areas of the National Capital region (NCR) continued to witness incessant spell of light to moderate rain on Friday, resulting in waterlogging and traffic snarls in many parts of the city.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), rainfall recorded in the city during the past 24 hours ending at 0830 hrs was 72 mm. Rainfall recorded in the national capital during the past nine hours ending at 1730 hrs was 8 mm.
The spell of rain resulted in a dip in temperature as the maximum temperature was recorded at 27.6 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below normal.
Vehicles in Delhi moved at a snail’s pace at various places as roads were clogged with heavy traffic jams on Friday morning following the overnight incessant rain.
According to the Delhi Traffic Police, waterlogging was reported near Hanuman Setu on Shanti Van to the Hanuman Mandir carriageway, Libaspur underpass, Maharani Bagh Taimur Nagar cut, CDR Chowk, Mehrauli towards Gurugram, Andheria Mode towards Vasant Kunj, Under Nizamuddin bridge, Singhu Border near petrol pump and MB Road towards Sainik Farm carriageway.
The police advised the commuters to avoid all these stretches.
Even the IndiGo airlines advised its passengers to keep enough travel time in hand while travelling to the Delhi Airport as waterlogging has been reported from several parts of the city.
On Thursday, the administrations in Gurugram and Noida, taking note of the weather conditions, issued certains advisories in their area..
The Gurugram Administration issued an advisory to private institutions and corporate offices to guide their employees to work from home to avoid traffic congestion on roads.
In Noida, all government and private schools up to Class 8 will remain closed as several roads in the city were waterlogged due to the incessant rain.
The incessant spell of light to moderate rain, which continued on the second day on Friday led to heavy waterlogging in several areas of Gurugram, leading to massive traffic snarls at many places.
Traffic movement on the Delhi-Jaipur-Mumbai highway was majorly hit due to waterlogging.
The worst-hit areas are the Delhi-Jaipur Expressway (NH-48) service lane near Hero Honda Chowk, IffCO Chowk, Jharsa Chowk, Sector-31, Narsinghpur, Sohna Road, Basai Chowk, Sohna Chowk, Sector 4-7-9, Hanuman Chowk, Atlas Chowk, Artemis Road, Kanhai Chowk, Golf Course Road, Vatika Chowk, Subhash Chowk, Baghtawar Chowk, Atul Kataria Chowk, Kapashera border, Udyog Vihar, Jocbpura, Sadar Bazar, Mahavir Chowk, Dundahera near Medanta underpass and Jawala Mill.
On Thursday, heavy rainfall led to waterlogging in several parts of Gurugram, leading to traffic jams as police struggled to decongest roads. Following this, pedestrians were compelled to walk through severely inundated lanes and main roads.
Waterlogging was also reported in several parts of the national capital on Thursday.
The Delhi-Gurugram expressway, heavily jammed, witnessed the usual traffic on a rainy day.
“Due to continuous heavy rainfall in Gurugram, there is waterlogging at some places and the traffic is moving at a slow speed. Therefore, we request all of you that you should come out of the house only when necessary,” read the traffic police advisory issued on its Twitter handle.
Meanwhile, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert, cautioning people about heavy rain which could reduce visibility, disrupt traffic and damage roads.
For Saturday, the IMD has forecast a generally cloudy sky with moderate rain and thundershowers at most places in the national capital and heavy rain at one or two places.
The Met Department in its forecast has further said that the maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi on Friday would be around 27 and 22 degrees respectively.
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