Delhi was placed under orange alert on Friday after incessant rain caused traffic congestion and waterlogging leaving the commuters struggling to navigate the roads.

The downpour was not confined to the national capital. In fact, the torrents threw life out of gear in the states lying in the North and Northwestern parts of the country.

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “The active Western Disturbance and its interaction with easterly winds causing light to moderate rainfall and thunderstorms over Northwest and Central India including Delhi-NCR.”

Due to the rain, traffic was affected in several areas of South, Central, and Northern parts of the city with commuters forcing people finding it difficult to reach their workplaces and airport, and railway stations.

The weather office reported that the rain hit the city at around 2 am and the recorded data of rainfall till  5:30 pm, Safdarjung recorded 30.2 mm of rainfall, Palam 31.4 mm and Lodhi road 34.2 mm among others.

As per the data from IMD, the national capital recorded the second highest rainfall in the last 15 years. The highest rainfall in the month of December was recorded at 33.9 mm in 2019.

Due to the rain, a big tree fell on the standing vehicles in the Lado Sarai area of South Delhi, damaging three vehicles, however no person sustained injury in the incident.

Several low lying areas and those having poor drainage systems especially the JJ clusters that faced waterlogging problems forcing residents either to remain indoors or wade through waterlogged streets.

The IMD has forecast rainfall for Saturday too due to the interaction of Western Disturbance with easterly winds over Central parts, and hailstorm in the Northwest part of the country. As per the weather department, Light to moderate rainfall accompanied with light thunderstorm and lightning occurred at places in Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Jammu And Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh.