Delhi: Heavy rains throws traffic into chaos

New Delhi, Oct 10: Rains brought the mercury down on Monday morning with the minimum temperature settling at 19.2 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season's average, even as traffic snarls were reported from across the national capital due to waterlogging.

Delhi recorded 21.8 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am this morning.

Rains over the last couple of days have not only brought the mercury down but have also thrown a spanner in the vehicular traffic, news agency PTI reported.

On Monday morning, commuters going through ITO, DND, Barapullah, Mukarba Chowk, Noida gate battled intractable jams. The air quality at 9.05 am read 41, which was in the "good" category.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ''good'', 51 and 100 ''satisfactory'', 101 and 200 ''moderate'', 201 and 300 ''poor'', 301 and 400 ''very poor'', and 401 and 500 ''severe''.

The weatherman has forecast a generally cloudy sky with the possibility of light rain.

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 24 degrees Celsius.

A sustained spell of rain on Sunday brought a significant improvement in air quality in the capital, yielding the second "good" air day of the year, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

The 24-hour average air quality index in the city was 48 at 4 pm. It was 56 on Saturday and 55 on Friday.

The national capital has recorded 128 days of bad air quality (AQI is poor, very poor or severe) this year so far, the highest since 2017, when it saw 130 such days during the corresponding period.

Delhi received 74 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8.30 am, the second highest rainfall in a single day since 2007, according to the India Meteorological Department's data.