Kanpur: The city witnessed its second-highest 24-hour rainfall on record on Saturday, as relentless showers dumped 175 mm of rain — the highest daily rainfall recorded in the city in the past six decades of records maintained by Chandra Shekhar Azad University of Agriculture and Technology (CSA).The all-time record stands at 212.3 mm, recorded on Aug 21, 1950, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) records. The 175 mm registered on Saturday was the highest 24-hour rainfall figure in CSA’s records spanning the past 60 years.Sept has witnessed several bouts of exceptionally heavy rain in Kanpur. The city’s highest monthly rainfall of 443 mm was recorded in Sept 1981. On Sept 28 that year, Kanpur received 154 mm of rain in a single day.Another major spell lashed the city on September 13, 2022, when 150.8 mm of rain was recorded in 24 hours.Kanpur’s normal average rainfall for September is around 169 mm, according to meteorological records.Rainfall patterns in Sept have fluctuated considerably over the past decade. In 2024, intense monsoon activity brought 120.6 mm of rain in a single day on Sept 17.Sept 2022 again saw exceptionally heavy rain, with 150.8 mm recorded on Sept 13, while the city received 102.4 mm in 24 hours on September 17, 2021, during the monsoon withdrawal phase.Between 2015 and 2020, rainfall patterns remained mixed. While 2015 and 2018 were relatively dry, with monthly rainfall below 100 mm, Sept 2019 recorded around 150-160 mm of rain, accompanied by light to moderate showers during the monsoon’s withdrawal phase.Side copyMajor roads turned into virtual canalsSeveral major roads turned into virtual canals, bringing traffic to a crawl as relentless rain inundated large parts of the city. With no immediate respite forecast over the next 24 hours, the situation remained grim.The city’s road network bore the brunt of the downpour, with severe waterlogging reported on RTO Road, Sarvodaya Nagar, Rawatpur crossing, Geeta Nagar, Chawla Market, Govind Nagar, Saket Nagar, Nirala Nagar, Barra, Yashoda Nagar and Kidwai Nagar, among other areas.Water also accumulated on the campuses of Kanshi Ram Hospital, LLR Hospital and UHM Hospital, causing inconvenience to patients and visitors.In Laxmipurwa’s Jhadoo Wali Gali, more than 100 houses were affected after rainwater entered residential premises. Residents were forced to use pumps and buckets to drain water from their homes. Similar scenes were reported in Kachchi Basti in Govind Nagar, Babupurwa and other slum localities.The notorious Juhi railway underpass was once again submerged in a mix of sewage and rainwater, disrupting connectivity between parts of south Kanpur. Several roads also developed potholes, posing risks to motorists and further slowing traffic.Meanwhile, Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University cancelled its mid-semester examinations in view of the heavy rainfall. Vice-chancellor Prof Vinay Pathak appealed to students not to visit the university campus.Residents in several localities blamed the Kanpur Municipal Corporation for failing to ensure proper cleaning and desilting of drains and roadside gully pits before and during the monsoon. They alleged that much of the drain-cleaning exercise remained confined to official records and claimed the present situation could have been avoided had the work been carried out effectively.Box2 killed in house collapse incidentsA 65-year-old man died after a two-storey mud house, weakened by continuous rain, collapsed in Sikarodi village under Kurara police station in Hamirpur on Friday night. Police and villagers launched a rescue operation and pulled Ram Prakash from the debris after considerable efforts. He was rushed to Kurara Community Health Centre, where doctors declared him dead. In Mahoba, a 58-year-old farmer died after a rain-soaked kutcha house collapsed on him in Nakra village under Panwadi police station area on Saturday. Jaipal had entered the house, built in a field outside the village, to check fodder when its walls, weakened by continuous rain, collapsed.BoxRain brings down mud houses, disrupts rural lifeContinuous rain over the past 24 hours brought down around six mud houses in Haripur, Paras, Koriya, Shiromanipur and Patara villages in rural Ghatampur tehsil. No casualties were reported as the families escaped in time.Household belongings were buried or damaged, leaving the affected families without shelter. Residents said prolonged rain had weakened the mud walls and roofs, while such houses remained vulnerable every monsoon.The families said they had lived in mud houses for years and hoped for assistance under a government housing scheme. Villagers urged the administration to conduct a survey of vulnerable houses.Waterlogging also disrupted movement in the area. Ghatampur SDM Abichal Pratap Singh said the lekhpal had been asked to conduct an inquiry. Compensation would be provided from the natural disaster relief fund based on the report. He also urged villagers to vacate dilapidated houses and move to safer places.
