Heavy rains
lashed Delhi over the last 24 hours causing traffic jams in several parts of
the city and heavy waterlogging in certain areas. The India Meteorological
Department said that Delhi will see “generally cloudy sky with moderate
rain/thundershowers” on Saturday. The Delhi traffic police has taken to Twitter
to advise commuters on routes to take and avoid.  

“Delhi’s
Safdarjung observatory records 138.8 mm rain in the last 24 hours till 8:30 am today.
This is the season’s highest one-day rain,” the India Meteorological Department
(IMD) said adding that the city recorded 11 mm rain till 5:30pm on Friday.

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The Delhi
Police tweeted that the Azad Market Underpass is closed due to 1.5 feet
waterlogging. Vehicular movement was hit at the Moolchand underpass due to
waterlogging. Pictures from Pragati Maidan, Lajpat Nagar and Jangpura areas
show people wading through waterlogged streets.

Minto
Bridge too was waterlogged with traffic movement at a standstill. Vehicular
movement at Mehrauli-Badarpur road was affected due to waterlogging following
heavy rain.

Initially,
the Saturday morning rains came as a welcome respite from the sultry weather
for residents of Delhi. However, as the downpour continued, regular life was disrupted.

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Moderate to
heavy rain is expected in adjoining areas of Delhi including Bahadurgarh, Loni
Dehat, Hindon AF, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Noida, Kaithal, Karnal and Rajaund,
the IMD added.

The meteorological
department has issued an orange alert for Saturday and a yellow alert for Sunday.
A green alert has been issued from August 23 to 26.

The IMD
uses the orange alert as a warning for extremely bad weather which has the
potential to disrupt traffic movement, drainage and power supply. A red alert
is issued when the weather will certainly disrupt travel and power and may even
pose risk to life.

A yellow
alert signals bad weather whereas a green alert means all is well.