New Delhi, Jul 19 (PTI) The national capital on Sunday received its first spell of heavy rains which inundated low-lying areas, and brought traffic to a standstill on important road stretches in the city.

The downpour led to the death of a 56-year-old man, allegedly due to drowning, after his mini-truck got submerged in rainwater under the Minto Bridge in central Delhi.

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A bus also got stuck in the water under the bridge. Fire department personnel rushed to the spot and rescued the people on board. The Youth Congress also shared a video of their inundated Raisina Road office.

Residents shared on social media videos and pictures of rainwater gushing into their houses and vehicles wading through waterlogged roads.

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The Delhi Traffic Police reported heavy waterlogging at Minto Road, Azadpur underpass, South Avenue Road, Pul Prahladpur underpass, Azad market, Moolchand underpass and near Batra Hospital among others.

The India Meteorological Department said the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 74.8 mm rainfall till 8:30 am.

The Ridge and Lodhi Road weather station recorded 86 mm and 81.2 mm rainfall, respectively. The Palam and Ayanagar observatories gauged 16.9 mm and 12.2 mm precipitation, it said.

Rainfall recorded below 15mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate, and above 64.5mm is heavy, according to the IMD.

Earlier, the IMD had predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall over isolated parts of northwest India. It said the "entire monsoon trough is most likely to shift northwards, closer to the foothills of the Himalayas during July 19-20".

Despite the early arrival of monsoon in Delhi, rains had remained subdued so far.

However, the rains on Sunday morning pushed the overall July rainfall in the surplus category.

The Safdarjung Observatory has received 122.7 mm rainfall in July so far, which is eight per cent more than the normal of 114.1 mm, according to the IMD data.

The Lodhi Road weather station has recorded 137.1 mm rainfall in July, which is 20 per cent more than the normal of 114.4 mm.

Monsoon reached Delhi on June 25, two days earlier than the usual date of June 27. The IMD had predicted normal rainfall in the national capital during the season.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)