Building collapses as rains lash Delhi

NEW DELHI: The monsoon clouds may still be some distance away from the capital, but Delhiites got a taste of the rainy season as the city received intermittent showers overnight that brought down the temperatures considerably.

Delhi recorded 13.6 mm of rain since Friday evening, resulting in the minimum temperature plunging to 18 degrees Celsius, a good 11 degrees below normal, a Met Department official said.

However, the Met office said these were not pre-monsoon showers but a combined result of the western disturbance over Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and an upper air cyclonic circulation over Central Pakistan and western Rajasthan.

An old building collapsed in Rohini in west Delhi in the wee hours of Saturday, the Fire Department said. However, there were no casualties as the building was unoccupied.

 While the maximum temperature recorded in Delhi on Friday was 41 degrees Celsius, the mercury took a nosedive in the evening when the capital was lashed by thundershowers and swept by high velocity winds.

High velocity winds with a speed of 80 kmph had accompanied the rains, uprooting trees and resulting in traffic snarls.

Meanwhile, the denizens can expect the respite from the sweltering, over 40 degree Celsius temperatures during the weekend, with the weatherman predicting for the next 48 hours a generally cloudy sky with possibility of rain or thundershowers accompanied with squall in some areas.

The maximum temperature is expected to stay around 38 degrees Celsius.