Delhi-NCR hit by severe rain, early morning tremor
Residents of Delhi-NCR woke up to a double crisis on Thursday as torrential overnight rain caused widespread waterlogging in Gurugram, and a 4.4-magnitude earthquake struck the region just hours later.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Gurugram and nearby areas, while the National Center for Seismology (NCS) confirmed the quake at 9:04 AM, with its epicentre in Jhajjar, Haryana.
Thousands of people working in Gurugram worked from home following a government advisory to corporate offices and private institutions on Thursday, a day after torrential rain saw led to massive waterlogging in the high-rise city that was brought to its knees.
A truck loaded with beer bottles that fell into a road which had caved in was testimony to the rain havoc.
Several private schools conducted online classes while some government schools cancelled classes for the day.
Corporate offices and private institutions were advised to allow their employees to work from home on Thursday, a day after torrential rain led to massive traffic snarls and waterlogging in the high-rise city that was brought to its knees.
The rains that started around 7 pm on Wednesday and continued late into the night led to jams that lasted till the early hours of Thursday.
According to the advisory issued by the District Disaster Management Authority, Gurugram recorded 133 mm of rainfall in the 12-hour period that ended at 7 am on Thursday. This included an “extremely intense spell” of 103 mm of rainfall between 7.30 pm to 9 pm on Wednesday.
The downpour left the Narsinghpur stretch of the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway and places near Basai and Golf Course Extension Road submerged.
There was a 7 to 8-km-long queue of vehicles on National Highway 48 from Narsinghpur to Rajokri in Delhi on Wednesday night.
About 2.5 feet of water accumulated at Subhash Chowk and people were stuck in a jam till 2 am.
The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) deployed teams to clear the water and restore normal traffic flow.
Some people took to social media to highlight the condition of roads and called for action against officials of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG).
Heavy rain also lashed other parts of Haryana, including Ambala, Hisar, Karnal, Narnaul, Rohtak, Bhiwani and Panchkula.
In neighbouring Punjab, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Faridkot, Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib received rainfall. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states, also witnessed a wet spell.
The rain brought down temperatures by a few notches.