1 2 Prayagraj : After witnessing a long dry but sultry spell, the city was lashed with heavy rains on Tuesday. The downpour, which started in the early morning, continued for almost the entire day, switching between moderate to heavy rainfall. Several of the low-lying areas of the city witnessed waterlogging , and the downpour further worsened the problems being faced by the flood-affected areas.
For the past week, denizens were facing extreme sultry conditions. However on Tuesday, the weather took a U-turn, and the city skies were dominated by thick black clouds and cool breeze, which was followed by heavy rains. "The overcast conditions are because of the depression that had initially formed over the Bay of Bengal and moved through the trough line.
The conditions would remain the same, and by the latter half of Wednesday, it will start weakening," said SK Agnihotry, Meteorologist -B, Civil Aviation Training College, Bamrauli. The city recorded 63.6mm of rainfall from 8:30 am to 7:30 pm, he added, while the city recorded a maximum temperature of 26.
9°C and a minimum of 25.2°C. Meanwhile, the district magistrate has instructed to close all the govt and govt aided schools from class 1 to 8 in the district on Sept 18 because of incessant rains.
All the Hindi and English medium schools of different boards have to keep the institutions close. Although the rains provided respite from the sultry conditions, it added to the woes of those who have been recently affected by floods. As the floodwater was steadily receding in the localities for the last 24 hours, locals and administrative machinery were preparing to commence cleaning work as the floodwater had left behind a large quantity of silt, garbage, and vegetation.
But, as things were slowly returning to normal, the heavy downpour on Tuesday washed away the cleaning efforts. Piles of garbage, which had dried up in the last three days, is once again scattered on the roads, making the locals vulnerable to several diseases. The streets of these flood-affected areas have become slippery because of the moist silt.
Heavy downpour resulted in waterlogging in several areas of the city, roads, and by-lanes were blocked by knee-deep water. Along with the localities, which were affected by the recent floods, the low-lying areas of several untouched localities too suffered the wrath of the heavy rains. Several trees were uprooted in different localities of the city.
A huge tree was uprooted near the High Court and fell on the vehicles parked at the site. A couple of cars got damaged after getting trapped under the tree. Later, cranes were called to remove the tree.
Since the weather experts have suggested the continuation of these conditions for the next 12 hours, both the affected populace and the authorities are apprehensive about adding to the troubles. Because of the incessant downpour, commuters had a tough time attending their offices along with students going to their schools and colleges. Waterlogging further worsened the situation as several two-wheelers were seen stuck in waterlogged roads.
As the civil work related to Maha Kumbh is in progress in several localities of the city, the locals had a tough time negotiating with the wrath of the weather. Strong winds added to the woes as it disrupted the power too in several localities. On Tuesday, 12 persons went fishing on three boats in village Paigambarpur Dhurva under Thana Tharwai area.
Due to bad weather and strong currents in the Ganga and high-water level, two boats capsized. On getting information that the above persons were trapped in the river, under the able guidance of Police Commissioner Prayagraj, local police, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), 42Bn. PAC flood relief team rescued 12 persons safely and sent them to Community Health Centre, Dharampur Dhurva where all were found healthy.
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