Noida: Incessant drizzle and 10-minute hail shower on Tuesday disrupted traffic across several parts of the city, slowing the rush hour traffic on key arterial routes even as air quality deteriorated sharply despite the rainfall. Rain also deepened the chill as temperatures fell by nearly six points. The maximum was recorded at 16.9 degrees Celsius, significantly lower than Monday’s 23.2 degrees, while morning visibility stayed below 500 metres. Minimum temperature rose to 8 degrees following the rain. On Monday, the minimum temperature was recorded at 4.2 degrees, four degrees below normal, making it the coldest Republic Day since 2021, when Delhi-NCR had witnessed 2.1 degrees Celsius.However, the India Meteorological Department said cold day conditions were not met in the city on Tuesday, as two consecutive days are needed to meet the criteria and the mercury is predicted to rise on Wednesday. On Jan 6, parts of the city reeled under cold day conditions.A ‘cold day’ is considered when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius and the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 4.5 degrees or above.According to the IMD, thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds intensified to 30-40 kmph on Tuesday afternoon. Parts of the city also saw a brief hailstorm in the evening. Ankit Kaushik, a media professional in Sector 16, said he was caught in a hailstorm around 5pm near Sector 18. “Rain accompanied by hail shower lasted for roughly 10 minutes. It slowed traffic in the area as bikers and people rushed to take shelter under flyovers and bus stops,” he said. On Wednesday, skies are expected to remain cloudy, with shallow to moderate morning fog and winds picking up to around 10 kmph by afternoon.Earlier in the day, traffic near Dalit Prerna Sthal crawled during morning peak hours as commuters travelling from Greater Noida to Delhi via the Noida Expressway faced long delays near the Bird Feeding Point. Congestion worsened as vehicles from Sector 18 and the GIP Mall funnelled into the same stretch through the Film City Flyover, creating a bottleneck that persisted well into the afternoon.Arjun Kumar, a resident of Sector 30, said he was headed to Delhi but was held up for nearly 15 minutes at the Film City loop. “Traffic police had narrowed the loop with barricades, and vehicles barely moved even later in the day,” he said.Rain slowed traffic at multiple locations, including Sector 62, Sector 37, Pari Chowk, Gaur Chowk and several internal stretches. Autorickshaw rider Ashish, who drives schoolchildren to a school in Sector 50, said he took nearly 10-15 minutes more than usual to navigate the Vishwakarma Marg stretch between Sector 76 and 50 metro stations in the afternoon as several two-wheeler riders and pedestrians took shelter under flyovers and metro corridors, blocking traffic movement in the area.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had earlier issued a yellow alert, forecasting light rainfall for the day. Officials attributed the showers and accompanying thunderstorms to western disturbances. DCP (traffic) Manisha Singh told TOI there was a rush in the morning as most offices and schools reopened after the long weekend and Republic Day holiday. “Vehicular movement increased significantly on Tuesday. Rainfall further reduced speeds, but traffic personnel were deployed at key junctions to ease congestion,” she said.
