Arvind Kejriwal Cancels Officers' Week-Off As Heavy Rain Batters Delhi

Even as heavy rain battered Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday cancelled the leave of all government officers and instructed them to inspect the severe waterlogging problem across the city.

Officers of all departments have been instructed to cancel the Sunday holiday, following a torrential downpour that resulted in the highest single-day rainfall in July since 1982.

"Yesterday, Delhi received 126 mm of rainfall. Fifteen per cent of the total rainfall that Delhi gets every monsoon was received in just 12 hours. People were severely affected due to waterlogging. "Today, all the ministers of Delhi and the mayor will carry out an inspection of problem areas. Directions have been issued to all officers to be on the ground and their Sunday off has been cancelled," Kejriwal said.

Delhi recorded 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending 8:30 on Sunday, the highest in a single day in July since 1982, the India Meteorological Department said.

An interaction between a western disturbance and monsoonal winds is leading to an intense rainfall spell over northwest India, including Delhi which experienced the season's first "very heavy" rainfall.

The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's primary weather station, recorded 153 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, the highest since the 24-hour rainfall of 169.9 mm on July 25, 1982, a senior IMD official said. It was the third-highest single-day rainfall for July since 1958, it added.