Noida, Delhi rains: In wake of the heavy rainfall alert in Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and nearby regions to the national capital on Friday, several districts have declared holiday for schools tomorrow. All government and private schools till class 8 across Noida and Greater Noida in Gautam Buddh Nagar will remain closed. The weather department has issued an alert due to rains in the region after which District Magistrate Suhas L Yathraj issued the order to shut the schools, District School Inspector Dharamveer Singh said. "On September 23, all schools from class 1 to 8 in the district would remain closed,” Singh said, according to an official statement issued on Thursday night.
- All the schools in Aligarh district will also remian closed on September 23, and 24, District Basic Education Officer said.
- Kanpur DM has also directed the schools of all the boards of the district to be closed tomorrow. In compliance with the instructions given by District Magistrate Visakh, the government and non-government schools run by all the boards from class 1 to 12 in Kanpur city will remain closed tomorrow.
- In Mainpuri and Kasganj also, two-day holiday has been declared by the district administration.
- In Agra also, schools have been asked to remain closed for next two days.
- In the wake of heavy rainfall alert for tomorrow, all corporate & private institutions in district are advised to guide employees to work from home so that traffic congestion can be avoided & repair work can be done, Gurugram Disaster Management Authority said.
- Parts of Uttar Pradesh and the national capital region (NCR), including Gautam Buddh Nagar, witnessed heavy rainfall throughout Thursday and earlier in the week. Some areas of the state also reported loss of lives and property due to the downpour.
An incessant spell of light to moderate rain drenched Delhi for the second consecutive day on Thursday, leading to waterlogging in several areas and affecting traffic movement on key roads across the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued a 'yellow alert', cautioning people about moderate rain at most places in the city on Friday.
The Palam Observatory reported heavy rain -- 81 mm between 8:30 am and 8:30 pm. Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.
5 mm is moderate, between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm heavy, between 115.6 and 204.4 very heavy. Anything above 204.4 mm is considered extremely heavy rainfall.
The fresh spells of rains just before the withdrawal of monsoon from the National Capital Region will help cover the large deficit (46 per cent till September 22 morning) to some extent. It would also keep the air clean and the temperature in check.
The city recorded a minimum temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius and a maximum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal.
The 24-hour average air quality index settled at 66 (satisfactory category) at 4 pm, improving from 109 on Wednesday.
The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, gauged 31.2 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am and 5:30 pm.
The weather stations at Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar received 27.4 mm, 16.8 mm and 45.8 mm of precipitation during this period.
The Delhi University area, Jafarpur, Najafgarh, Pusa and Mayur Vihar recorded 16.5 mm, 18 mm, 29 mm, 24.5 mm and 25.5 mm of rainfall, respectively.
The Safdarjung Observatory has recorded 58.5 mm rainfall against a normal of 108.5 mm in September so far (till Thursday morning).
It had recorded 41.6 mm rainfall in August, the lowest in at least 14 years, due to the absence of any favourable weather system in northwest India.
Overall, Delhi has recorded 405.3 mm rainfall against a normal of 621.7 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season historically sets in.
The IMD on Tuesday said the southwest monsoon had withdrawn from parts of southwest Rajasthan and adjoining Kutch, three days after the normal date of September 17.
Usually, it takes around a week after its withdrawal from west Rajasthan for the monsoon to retreat from Delhi.
The withdrawal of southwest monsoon is declared if there has been no rainfall in the region for five days along with the development of anti-cyclonic circulation and water vapour imagery indicates dry weather conditions over the region.
(With inputs from PTI)
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