Sudden downpour leaves Delhi waterlogged, rain abates in Mumbai

New Delhi, Jul 9 (PTI) A sudden downpour in Delhi caught citizens off guard and caused heavy waterlogging and traffic jams on Tuesday while Mumbai breathed a sigh of relief as showers stopped a day after heavy rain brought the metropolis to its knees.

The public works department in the national capital received 22 calls regarding waterlogging and around three to four complaints of trees getting uprooted till the afternoon.

Spicejet said all departures and arrivals and their consequential flights might be affected due to the bad weather and asked passengers to keep a check on their flight status.

"Movement of traffic has been restricted at Azad Market underpass in the carriageway from Azad Market towards Shastri Nagar due to waterlogging," the Delhi Traffic Police said on X.

In another post, the police said traffic movement was affected on the Windsor Palace roundabout in front of Ashoka Road from C-Hexagon due to damage to a sewerage pipeline.

"Traffic is affected on Rohtak Road in both the carriageways from Rajdhani Park towards Mundka and vice versa due to waterlogging. Kindly plan your journey accordingly," the police said on X.

Mumbai witnessed overcast skies early on Tuesday but the rain took a break even as schools and colleges were closed following the weather office's warning of heavy showers.

There was no major waterlogging anywhere in the city and suburbs and road traffic was smooth while local trains -- considered the lifeline of the country's financial capital -- came back on track.

The India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre had issued a 'red' alert for the city for Tuesday, predicting "heavy to very heavy rainfall in a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places".

Heavy rain lashed parts of Goa for the fourth consecutive day, with the authorities advising fishermen not to venture into the sea and people to avoid visiting flood-prone areas.

The IMD issued a 'red' alert for Tuesday, saying heavy to very heavy rainfall was very likely at a few places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places with strong surface winds over North Goa and South Goa districts.

Continuous rain with short intense spells and winds reaching speeds up to 50 kilometres per hour are very likely in the coastal state, the IMD said.

Meanwhile, as floods continued to wreak havoc in Assam, Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi alleged the BJP's "double-engine" governments in the Centre and the state did very little during the past eight years to find a solution to the perennial problem.

Gogoi also asked the Union Jal Shakti minister to visit the state to assess the situation.

"Flood and erosion response need a long-term solution and significant financial investment … Unfortunately, very little has been done over the last eight years by the 'double-engine' BJP government at the state and central levels," Gogoi said on X.

"The Central Water Commission has ignored Assam for a long time. I request the minister of Jal Shakti to visit the state during these difficult times," he added.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Brahmaputra and its tributaries were flowing below danger levels in most places and the overall flood situation in the state improved marginally with the number of people reeling from the deluge in 27 districts falling to around 18.80 lakh.

The toll in this year's flood, landslide and storm rose to 85 with six more deaths reported on Monday.

Altogether 48,124 displaced people are taking shelter in 245 relief camps.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami conducted an aerial survey of flood-hit areas in the Kumaon region while the death toll in the heavy rain spell during the past 24 hours rose to three following the recovery of a teenage girl's body from a seasonal stream.

The 17-year-old girl had slipped into the stream while bathing outside her home in Dehradun on Monday.

Dhami undertook an aerial review of the areas reeling from floods in the Kumaon region, including the worst-hit Haldwani, Banbasa, Tanakpur, Sitarganj and Khatima.

A total of 1,821 people have so far been shifted from their flooded homes by the National Disaster Response Force in Sitarganj and Khatima in Udham Singh Nagar district and the Purnagiri area of Champawat district.

Two national highways and more than 200 rural motorable roads are still blocked by landslide debris, the State Emergency Operation Centre said.

Jaipur and Sawai Madhopur recorded heavy showers during a 24-hour period as widespread rainfall continued in Rajasthan.

In the 24 hours ended at 8:30 am, the maximum rainfall of 93 mm was recorded in Kalwad (Jaipur), followed by 85 mm in Malarna (Sawai Madhopur), 78 mm in Sambhar (Jaipur), 69 mm in Chauth Ka Barwara (Sawai Madhopur) and 57 mm in Merta (Nagaur).

An active monsoon trough and a cyclonic circulation in northeast Assam are very likely to bring heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy downpours over northern West Bengal till Thursday, the Met Department said.

The intensity of rain is likely to decrease slightly on Friday and Saturday.

Gajaldoba in Jalpaiguri district recorded the state's highest rainfall at 180 mm in 24 hours till 8:30 am.

The other places in northern West Bengal that recorded significantly high rainfall during the period were Sevoke (170 mm), Buxaduar (150 mm), Nagrakata (140 mm), Jalpaiguri town (130 mm) and Bhutanghat (120 mm). PTI