by Pankaj Yadav
NEW DELHI, July 8 (Xinhua) -- Heavy rains lashed Delhi on Saturday, leading to long traffic jams with vehicles stranded in waist-deep waters in parts of the central area of the Indian capital.
The downpour starting on Friday night continued through Saturday, lowering the temperature and bringing much-needed respite to the Delhi residents from heat and humid conditions prevailing in the city for the past days.
Rain water gushed into houses and shops and other commercial establishments in the capital. Several underpasses were flooded up to 3 meters, with vehicles seen stuck.
Due to waterlogging a large number of people could not reach their offices or other destinations.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast more showers in Delhi, and issued a Yellow Alert for Sunday, compared to the higher-level Orange Alert for Saturday, advising the public to remain vigilant over the weather condition.
"This was the season's first heavy spell of rains," said the national weather agency.
Charan Singh, a senior official at Delhi's IMD office said, "Monsoon is on in this part of the country. This week northwest India, including Delhi, will witness rains. The intensity of the rains will be high for 2-3 days and will reduce after that. There will be some relief from the heat during this period."
Meanwhile, reports of heavy rains leading to floods and landslides came in from many areas of the South Asian country.
Rains reportedly affected the normal life in many states, including the northern hilly states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, the eastern state of Bihar, and parts of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.
While bridges broke in some parts of India due to gushing waters, in other places roads were washed away in flooding waters.
"Heavy to very-heavy with extremely heavy rainfall (over 204.4 mm) are expected on July 8-9. Stay safe, be prepared for flooding and landslides," the IMD said, issuing the highest level Red Alert for Himachal Pradesh. ■
