New Delhi, Aug. 10 -- There was no alert for rain from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) till Friday evening, yet incessant rain pounded Delhi-NCR from late night into Saturday morning. The weather agency's forecast miss blindsided residents who had to scramble through traffic snarls, transport shortages, and general chaos on Saturday morning, which was also Raksha Bandhan - a day that is synonymous with heavy traffic.

Adding to the confusion, IMD cycled through three different alerts in less than 12 hours. A red alert at 7am, which was downgraded to yellow by 10am, then upgraded again to orange by noon.

By evening, IMD had settled on a yellow alert for the rest of Saturday and green alert for Sunday and the week ahead with poss...