Extreme rain cripples Delhi again

Extremely intense rainfall paralysed the Capital once again as a sudden bout of downpour on Wednesday evening, accompanied by lightning and gusty winds, led to flooded streets and widespread chaos.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) late in the day issued a “red alert”.
The rainfall brought back memories of June 28, when Delhi recorded over 200mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period, killing 11.
According to media reports, at least two people, a woman and a child, reportedly drowned after falling into a drain in Mayur Vihar Phase-3. Police officials however said they are unsure if the incident took place on the Delhi or Ghaziabad side. The report could be independently verified by HT.
Officials feared that more such instances may be reported across city if the unprecedented rain does not abate.
The Delhi government also announced a holiday on Thursday for all government and private schools in the Capital due to forecast of heavy rainfall.
The sudden downpour also led to a house collapse in north Delhi’s Sabji Mandi locality. Till the time of going to press, there was no clarity about whether or not there were casualties.
The sudden change in weather conditions impacted air traffic at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport, as at least 10 flights were diverted — eight to Jaipur and two to Lucknow — to nearby airports and many others were delayed, officials said.
The Mayur Vihar weather station recorded 119mm of rainfall in a three-hour spell between 5.30pm and 8.30pm, of which 89.5mm of rain was recorded there between 6.30pm and 7.30pm, which just fell short of the “cloudburst” categorisation.
There was severe waterlogging across the city, catching commuters returning from work in the evening off guard as traffic was thrown out of gear nearly throughout the city and surrounding satellite towns such as Gurugram and Noida.
In Rajendra Nagar, where three students drowned in a flooded basement, streets were again severely inundated.
An IMD official said the rain was due to the monsoon trough reaching Delhi-NCR. “Till Tuesday, the monsoon trough was to the south of its normal position. On Wednesday, the trough made its transition from south of its normal position to its normal position, closer to Delhi-NCR,” the IMD official said.
The IMD has a “yellow alert” for Thursday and Friday, forecasting light to moderate spells of rain, before a reduction in the rain intensity as the trough moves away from the region.
Contrasting halves
No Delhi weather station recorded any rainfall till 5.30pm on Wednesday. Rainfall started from around 6pm, intensifying further after 7pm, with several stations recording “heavy” rainfall, prompting the IMD to issue a red alert till 9pm.
Between 5.30pm and 8.30 pm, the Safdarjung weather station, which is considered representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded 79.2mm of rainfall. The weather station at Delhi University recorded 77.5mm of rain, Pusa 66.5mm, Palam 43.7mm and Mayur Vihar 119mm, in the three-hour period. IMD classifies “heavy rainfall” as a day when there is 64.5mm of rainfall in a 24-hour period.
Intensity-wise, the weather department classifies rainfall as “light” when it is 10mm per hour, “moderate” when it is 10 to 20mm per hour, “intense” when it is 20-30mm per hour, “very intense” when it is 30 to 50mm per hour, “extremely intense” when it is 50 to 100mm per hour and “cloudburst” when it is over 100mm per hour.
The first half of the day was sultry, characterised by high humidity, with the maximum temperature settling at 37.8°C, which was three degrees above normal. The relative humidity oscillated between 63% and 83% throughout the day, giving Delhi a Heat Index (HI) or “real feel” of 52°C.
Traffic flow stunted
Severe waterlogging was recorded in several parts of the city, throwing traffic out of gear. The Delhi Traffic Police issued advisories, warning motorists to avoid Anuvrat Marg, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, the carriageway from Moolchand to Chirag Dilli, Outer Ring Road stretch from Chirag Delhi to Nehru Place, IP Marg, Minto Bridge, both carriageways of Mathura Road, near Apollo Hospital, the Sarita Vihar flyover and the railway underbridge at Ram Bagh Road.
Officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) said that the Minto Bridge underpass was closed to traffic as a precautionary measure. Additionally, Zakhira and Kirari underpasses were also shut. Heavy waterlogging was also reported at Moolchand and Tilak Bridge underpasses, although these continued to remain open.
“We noticed a lot of leakage from the DJB pipeline near Minto Bridge underpass and closed it for traffic movement as a precautionary measure to avoid any untoward incident. At the surface level, waterlogging was reported from ITO, Dhaula Kuan, Sadar Bazaar and some other areas along the Ringh Road,” a senior PWD official said.
Meanwhile, flights scheduled between 7pm and 9pm were delayed, an airport official said. “Flights had to be diverted to nearby airports due to bad weather at Delhi. This included lightning, gusty winds and intense rain,” the official said.