Once again, lightning and strong winds combined with unexpected precipitation on Wednesday night caused streets to flood and mayhem to spread throughout the Capital. The downpour reminded them of the June 28 incident in Delhi, when over 200 mm of rain fell in a single day, leaving 11 people dead.
A mother and a child are said to have drowned in Mayur Vihar Phase 3 after falling into a drain, according to media sources. However, police stated that they were not sure if the crime had happened in Ghaziabad or Delhi. HT could independently verify the report. If the unusual downpour did not stop, officials anticipated that additional incidents of this kind would be reported throughout the city.
Axis of Monsoon trough has moved South of #Delhi and #Ncr and can clearly be seen intersecting #Jammu, SW #Punjab, #Amritsar, #Ferozpur, #Muktsar, West #Haryana, #Fatehabad, #Hisar, North #Rajasthan, #Hanumangarh.
•These places and their by districts will be getting heavy rains… pic.twitter.com/Vxstle6bUp
— IndiaMetSky Weather (@indiametsky) August 1, 2024
Building Collapse in Sabji Mandi
In the Sabji Mandi neighborhood of north Delhi, a house collapsed due to an unexpected downpour. Whether or not there were casualties remained unclear until the time of going to print. According to officials, air traffic at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport was affected by the abrupt change in weather. At least 10 planes were diverted to neighboring airports—eight of them to Jaipur and two to Lucknow—and many more had delays.
A three-hour period between 5.30 and 8.30 pm had 119 mm of rainfall recorded at the Mayur Vihar weather station. Of that total, 89.5 mm of rain fell between 6.30 and 7.30 pm, narrowly missing the “cloudburst” classification. Severe flooding occurred throughout the city, throwing commuters returning from work in the evening off-guard as traffic virtually broke down in the metropolis and its adjacent satellite cities, including Gurugram and Noida.
Air Traffic Disruptions
The streets of Rajendra Nagar, where three students perished in a flooded basement, were once more significantly flooded. The rain was caused by the monsoon trough reaching Delhi-NCR, according to an IMD official. The monsoon trough was south of its usual location as of Tuesday. The IMD official stated that the trough moved on Wednesday from being south of its typical position to being nearer to Delhi-NCR.
As of 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, no rainfall was reported by any meteorological station in Delhi. Rainfall began at around 6 p.m. and continued to get heavier around 7 p.m., with multiple stations reporting “heavy” rainfall. This led to the IMD issuing a red alert that lasted until 9 p.m.
Severe Rainfall Statistics
The Safdarjung weather station, which is regarded as indicative of Delhi’s weather, recorded 79.2mm of rainfall between 5.30 and 8.30 p.m. During three hours, the Delhi University weather station reported 77.5 mm of rain, Pusa 66.5 mm, Palam 43.7 mm, and Mayur Vihar 119 mm. A day is considered “heavy rainfall” by IMD if it receives 64.5 mm of rain in 24 hours.
The weather service divides rainfall into five categories: “light” when it’s less than 10 mm/h, “moderate” when it’s between 10 and 20 mm/h, “intense” when it’s between 20 and 30 mm/h, “very intense” when it’s between 30 and 50 mm/h, “extremely intense” when it’s between 50 and 100 mm/h, and “cloudburst” when it’s more than 100 mm/h.
It was hot and muggy during the early part of the day, with a high relative humidity and a maximum temperature of 37.8°C, three degrees above usual. With a relative humidity that varied during the day from 63% to 83%, Delhi’s Heat Index (HI), or “real feel,” was 52°C.
Traffic Chaos and Waterlogging
Numerous areas of the city had severe waterlogging, which caused traffic to become chaotic. Drivers should avoid Anuvrat Marg, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Marg, Mahatma Gandhi Marg, the carriageway from Moolchand to Chirag Dilli, the Outer Ring Road stretch from Chirag Delhi to Nehru Place, IP Marg, Minto Bridge, both carriageways of Mathura Road, the Sarita Vihar flyover, and the railway underbridge at Ram Bagh Road, according to advisories issued by the Delhi Traffic Police.
As a precaution, traffic was prohibited from using the Minto Bridge underpass, according to Public Works Department (PWD) officials. The underpasses at Kirari and Zakhira were also closed. The underpasses at Moolchand and Tilak Bridge were also reported to have significant waterlogging, although being open at the time.
Safety Measures and Advisories
“We stopped traffic on the DJB pipeline at the Minto Bridge underpass as a precautionary step to prevent any unforeseen incidents after seeing significant leakage from the pipeline. A senior PWD official stated, “Waterlogging was reported at the surface level from ITO, Dhaula Kuan, Sadar Bazaar, and some other areas along the Ring Road.”
According to an airport spokesman, planes scheduled to depart between 7 and 9 p.m. were delayed. Due to inclement weather in Delhi, flights had to be rerouted to other airports nearby. This featured strong gusts, lightning, and rain,” the official stated.