Heavy rain, thundershowers catch Delhi unawares

NEW DELHI: The somewhat pleasant weather after an early morning shower gave way to heavy rain and thundershowers by late evening - catching most Delhiites unawares and leaving them stranded at various places without any shelter Thursday.

"I thought it would just be a light drizzle and I could manage to move around with my umbrella. However, as I left from work, it became dark and started raining very hard. I was stranded at the bus stop with no autorickshaw in sight for a good one hour," said Kavya Dutt, a public relations executive.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the weather would be much the same on Friday.

"There will be generally cloudy sky and rain and thundershowers in some places on Friday," an IMD official told IANS.

Till 5.30 THursday evening, the capital received 7.6 mm of rainfall.

"But the temperature has not been affected much. The maximum temperature, at 33.4 degrees Celsius, is just one degree below normal, while the minimum, at 26.1 degrees Celsius, is normal," he added.

However, the heavy rains gave the people a harrowing time on the capital's roads.

"I don't remember the last time it rained this much in Delhi. At 4.30 in the evening, the skies turned black as if it were late night and the rain... it was non-stop, causing the drains to overflow and jams created on the roads," said Abhinav Misra, a student.

"Everytime it rains, there is utter mayhem on the roads. So one can well imagine what happens on days like this when it rains continuously, and that too so heavily. It's just another long wait on the roads," he said as he waited for the snaking queue of cars at the ITO to start moving.