Indore: Long wait for the rains finally comes to an end

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): The long wait of citizens for the rains came to an end as heavy rainfall, coupled with thunderstorms, took place in the city and its surrounding areas on Tuesday morning. The heavy rainfall threw life completely out of gear for hours in the city as regional meteorological department officials recorded as much as 92.4 mm rainfall (3.63 inches) at the airport in three and a half hours between11.30 am and 3 pm, while the pollution monitoring station at Regal Square recorded 4.25 inches rainfall in the same period.

Low-lying areas of the city were the worst-hit as rainwater entered homes and people had to spend the day draining it out. The most-affected were office-goers who were stuck in the rain for hours and those who were stuck in the traffic jams as the roads were submerged with rainwater in most areas. The rain began and continued to play havoc in the city till afternoon as the showers continued intermittently.

Citizens could not see sunshine as it remained dark with clouds enveloping the city since Tuesday morning. The wind was blowing at a speed of 8-10 km per hour while it also caused power cuts as hairline cracks appeared in the supply lines.

Indore recorded a maximum temperature of 26.2 degrees Celsius, which was 6 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature was recorded at 26.8 degrees Celsius, which was at normal.

The wind blew from the west and south-west for most part of the day. Morning and evening humidity was 90 percent and 80 per cent, respectively. The meteorological department has predicted that the weather will remain cloudy for the next three days and precipitation may continue.

With roads submerged, traffic jam on the roads

Driving on the city roads, which were submerged in rainwater, was the most challenging task for commuters and traffic snarls compounded their woes. The BRTS, as always, was one of the worst-affected roads. Rainwater had gathered in the motor vehicle lanes of the BRTS, which gave a trying time to commuters. The traffic flow was light, but still jams were witnessed on almost all roads due to waterlogging. It was difficult to drive on the roads, which were filled with rainwater.

3.63 inches rainfall recorded, total crosses eight-inch mark

The Met department recorded 3.63.inches of rainfall on Tuesday. The total rainfall recorded in the city in July reached 100.2 mm 3.94 inches. The total rainfall recorded this year, so far, is about 225.8 mm (8.88 inches).

Light-to-moderate rainfall likely on polling day

‘The heavy rainfall in Indore was the result of the low-pressure area over the central parts of west Madhya Pradesh and adjoining east Rajasthan with the associated cyclonic circulation tilting south-westwards. The monsoon trough continues to pass through Jaisalmer, the centre of the low-pressure area over the central parts of west Madhya Pradesh and adjoining east Rajasthan, Damoh, Ambikapur, Balasore and, then, south-eastwards to the east central Bay of Bengal,” senior scientist of the Indian Meteorological Department, Bhopal, Dr Ved Prakash Singh said. He added that, under the influence of these conditions, the city would witness light-to-moderate rainfall on Wednesday, as well.

Rain disrupts power supply in 22 feeders

Power supply was affected at 20 out of 500 feeders in the city on Tuesday afternoon due to the rain. The supply was normalised at these feeders within half an hour to a maximum of two and a half hours. About 400 employees of the city circle normalised the feeders, as well as resolved 500 complaints of other houses. Trees or big branches fell on power lines at 10 places, including Rajwada and Mahesh Guard Lines, causing faults.

City superintending engineer Manoj Sharma said that, due to waterlogging at North Toda and Kabutar Khana, rainwater had entered the transformers there, so supply was discontinued for public safety.

Barat taken out under a tarpaulin cover

Amid heavy rainfall, a wedding procession was taken out in which the participants, along with the groom, took shelter under a tarpaulin sheet. A video of the wedding procession went viral on social media.

Indore: Thunderstorm, rainfall lash city, expected for next 24 hours

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