As heavy and sudden rain, accompanied with winds, lashed different parts of the national Capital on Tuesday, Delhiites were caught off guard as the rain created waterlogging in key areas and threw traffic out of gear.

Laxmi Nagar, Central Secretariat, Delhi Cantonment, Palam, Safdarjung, Parliament Street, Dilshad Garden, ITO and Greater Kailash, among others, recorded heavy rain. The Public Works Department (PWD) said until afternoon, it received 22 calls regarding waterlogging and around three to four complaints of uprooted trees. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) received 11 calls regarding waterlogging and seven complaints of uprooted trees.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier predicted that moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning was likely to occur in many places.

The maximum temperature recorded in Delhi was 33.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal. The minimum temperature settled at 27.2 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degrees below the normal. Additionally, the Spicejet airline said all departures and arrivals in Delhi and their consequential flights may get affected due to the bad weather and asked passengers to keep a check on their flight status.

Ironically, the stretch near the Civic Centre building in Minto road was waterlogged. It was also witnessed in several areas including Sadar Bazar underpass, Jangpura, Mandoli, Sangam Vihar, Najafgarh, Burari, Durga Vihar, Laxmi nagar, ITO, Delhi Cantt, Palam,

Dilshad garden, Gol market, Greater Kailash, Kishanganj, Sarai Rohilla and outside Central Secretariat Metro Station among others.

Meanwhile, the Delhi BJP demanded the city government to call an all-party meeting within 24 hours on the cleaning of drains and monsoon preparedness or threatened the AAP to be ready to face BJP’s protest.

Further, the Delhi Traffic Police on X (formerly Twitter) said, “Movement of traffic has been restricted at Azad Market underpass in the carriageway from Azad Market towards Shastri Nagar due to waterlogging,”

In another post, the police said the traffic movement was affected on the Windsor Palace roundabout in front of Ashoka road from C-Hexagon due to damage of sewerage pipeline. “Traffic is affected on Rohtak Road in both the carriageways from Rajdhani Park towards Mundka and vice-versa due to waterlogging. Kindly plan your journey accordingly,” the police said on their X handle.

The rain also hit traffic movement on MB Road in both the carriageways from Khanpur T-point towards Hamdard T-point and vice-versa, according to the police. Commuters also took to X to share their ordeal. One of the commuters said the traffic was massive on the Delhi-Meerut expressway near Sarai Kale Khan.

Another said the traffic was heavy on the stretch from Wazirabad flyover to the Kashmere Gate ISBT.  Others said the traffic was heavy under Savitri flyover, from Mahipalpur till Rangpuri signal, on Nizamuddin bridge under metro bridge, at MB road Sangam Vihar to Khanpur, Sant Nagar main market, from Dhaula Kuan to Mahipalpur, Paschim Vihar, at tis Hazari red light, on Rani Jhansi Road, and near Jhandewalan, Mundka traffic signal among others.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the ‘satisfactory’ category with a reading of 76 at 9 am, according to Central Pollution Control Board data.