Rains continue to play truant in Delhi

Delhiites reeled under hot weather conditions Wednesday, with rains continuing to elude the national capital.

Weather department officials said surrounding areas of the national capital region such as Nuh, Hodal, Narnaul and Palwal in Haryana and Bulandshahr in Uttar Pradesh recorded light rainfall.

There were clouds in Delhi too, but the city did not witness any rainfall activity.

Senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department Kuldeep Srivastava said cloudy conditions are likely in Delhi on Thursday and only very light rainfall is expected.

Though monsoon is progressing slowly, it is likely to reach the city around July 6-7, he said.

The national capital has recorded just 6.6 mm of rainfall against the long-time average of 68.8 mm in first three days of July.

On Wednesday, the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides official figures for the city, recorded a high of 39.4 degrees Celsius, three notches more than normal, and a low of 29.4 degrees Celsius.

Humidity shot up to 74 per cent.

The weather stations at Palam, Faridabad and Jafarpur recorded the maximum temperatures at 40.9, 40.1 and 40.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.