Delhi wakes up to heavy rains, traffic jams

Finally, the long wait for the rains ended with Delhiites waking up to a wet morning on Monday, but with it came the problems of waterlogging and traffic jams even as a person died due to electrocution.

"The monsoon has revived over the capital, and since midnight an average of 21.2 mm rainfall has been recorded in the city," Met Department officials said.

Informing that Delhi Ridge area recorded the highest rainfall of 50 mm, the officials said the rains were expected to continue for at least next 24 hours.

Though the showers drastically brought down the mercury, it created its usual woes of waterlogging and traffic jams in several parts of the city.

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Meanwhile, a 40-year-old man died due to electrocution when he came in the proximity of an electric pole in Swaroop Nagar area of Northwest Delhi, Fire Department sources said.

The national capital had received 77 per cent less rainfall till now, according to the IMD.

Meanwhile, first widespead monsoon rains also lashed several parts of north India, affecting normal
life at some places but bringing respite to most people, especially farmers.

It has been pouring in Chandigarh since yesterday and the city received a record rainfall of 122.5 mm until this morning, according to the Meteorological Department in Chandigarh.

Several low-lying areas of Chandigarh were water-logged, vehicular traffic in the morning was thrown completely out of gear following incessant rains and the worst hit were the school children and office goers as pools of water had collected along the roads.

Interestingly, during the two month period from June one to July 31 this year, Chandigarh received only 185.3 mm of rain.

In Haryana, rains lashed Ambala (12.2 mm), Hisar (10 mm), Kalka (35 mm), Karnal (2 mm), Sonepat, Panipat and Panchkula (10 mm).

Parts of Punjab that received rains since yesterday included Ropar, Phagwara, Jalandhar, Amritsar, Patiala and Ludhiana.

The first widespread rains in the region since the onset of monsoon nearly a month back also brought good news for the farming community.

"These rains are beneficial for all crops including paddy, maize, sugarcane, cotton, pulses and oilseeds," Punjab's Director of Agriculture Ajmer Singh said.

He said that Basmati plantation, sown in areas of Amritsar and Gurdaspur, which had been stopped due to delayed rains, would now pick up.

"The rains are also beneficial for Guar and Moong, sown particularly in south-western districts of Punjab. If we have good rains over the next few days, then damage caused to the crops due to dry weather conditions can be undone to some extent," Singh said.

According to the northern railway offcials, some trains were delayed due to bad weather conditions. They included the Shatabdi express running from New Delhi to Kalka via Chandigarh, the Delhi-Kalka Himalayan Queen, Lucknow-Chandigarh Sadhbavna express and Delhi-Amritsar Shan-e-Punjab.

Rains also lashed Shimla, Bhuntar, Rampur, Sunni, Kasol,  Kahu and Nadaun in Himachal Pradesh.