After days of hot and humid weather, Delhi experienced heavy rains on Wednesday evening, leaving most of the city deluged and making commute difficult on Thursday.
The rains, which went on for two to four hours straight, have claimed five lives in Ghazipur. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Delhi and has advised residents to stay indoors. Rain is predicted for Thursday as well.
Severe downpours have brought life to a standstill in Delhi as commuters face traffic snags while several flights have been diverted from the national capital.
Mother and son die in rain
A 22-year-old woman and her son died in a waterlogged drain in Ghazipur’s Khoda Colony.
The duo slipped and fell into an under-construction drain when they had gone to the weekly market around 8 pm.
They were rescued by divers and cranes and were rushed to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital where doctors declared them dead.
A 12-year-old boy died after he was electrocuted in Dwarka’s district after he stepped on two plastic pipes that had exposed electric cables.
Meanwhile, one person suffered severe injuries after a house collapsed owing to heavy rains in Delhi’s Sabzi Mandi area. Another woman also sustained injuries following the collapse of a wall in Vasant Kunj.
A portion of a road collapsed due to heavy rainfall in New Delhi’s Hauz Khas area.
Many places record 100 mm rainfall overnight
Incessant rains throughout the night in the national capital caused several areas to record 100 mm of rainfall.
The heavy rainfall, exceeding 50mm per hour, initially caused severe waterlogging throughout the city and disrupted air traffic. Weather officials reported that while the intensity lessened after 8:30 pm on Wednesday, the rain persisted in battering most areas of Delhi until around 2:30 am when the clouds finally began to clear.
For Thursday, the weather office has predicted isolated drizzles to light rains across the city.
IMD data from 8:30 am on Wednesday to 5:30 am on Thursday indicated that several stations, including Safdarjung—which is representative of Delhi’s weather—had recorded ‘heavy’ rainfall. The IMD defines ‘heavy’ rainfall as exceeding 64.4mm within 24 hours.
Traffic snarls
Commuters were particularly affected by Wednesday’s heavy showers with many forced to spend hours on the road.
Traffic was particularly chaotic on the Delhi-Noida Expressway as many underpasses in Noida were left flooded.
Other areas that experienced traffic snags include Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad.
Meanwhile, Old Rajinder Nagar, already at the centre of a storm due to the three coaching centre deaths, was submerged in knee-deep water. Many showrooms in Connaught Place (CP) experienced flooding as well.
Schools shut till today
The Delhi government has ordered all schools, private and government, to remain shut till August 1.
The announcement was made by Delhi Minister Atishi on X.
Planes diverted
As many as 10 flights on their way to the national capital were diverted owing to heavy rains. Among these, eight were rerouted to Jaipur and two to Lucknow.
Many airlines, including IndiGo and SpiceJet, issued travel guidelines for passengers flying to Delhi.
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Delhi Deluge: Heavy rains kill 5, schools shut as roads in capital flooded, IMD issues red alert
