Heavy rain in Delhi, more expected Sunday (Third Lead)

Delhi and its adjoining areas were lashed by heavy rain Saturday disrupting traffic movement and flights. The Met office has forecast more rain Sunday.

The city received 37.6 mm of rainfall till 5:30 p.m. Roads were clogged in many areas all over the city leading to heavy traffic jams.

According to the Delhi Traffic Police, the most affected areas were GTB Nagar and Civil lines in north Delhi, Dhaula Kuan, Yusuf Sarai, Green Park, Lajpat Nagar, Aurobindo Marg, R.K. Puram, Saket and Malviya Nagar in south Delhi, Anand Parbat and Pusa Road in central Delhi and Patel Nagar, Tilak Nagar and Rajouri Garden in west Delhi.

"The traffic is crawling, in the last one hour I have managed to move just a few feet," said Deep Sekhon, a motorist stuck at Dhaula Kuan on his way to Karol Bagh from Dwarka.

"The rain in Delhi is always welcome, but the accompanying traffic jams ruin the fun," Kapil Verma, a Delhi University student, told IANS. He was stuck in a jam near Civil Lines.

"I had to do so much work today, but I was stuck for over 45 minutes for a four km ride," Renuka Rai, a resident of Lajpat Nagar, told IANS.

Nine flights had to be diverted due to bad weather, an official at the Indira Gandhi International Airport told IANS.

The day began on a sunny note, with the minimum temperature recorded at 28.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average. The day's maximum temperature was recorded at 35.3 degrees, a notch above the average.

The maximum humidity Saturday was recorded at 92 percent.

"The sky will remain partly cloudy tomorrow (Sunday) and parts of the city will see rain and thunderstorms," said an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official.

The maximum and minimum temperatures Sunday are likely to hover around 35 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively.

Friday was warm with the maximum temperature settling at 37.7 degrees Celsius, four notches above the season's average. The minimum temperature settled 28.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season's average.