Rain preparedness in Delhi strained already | Latest News India

The weather anomaly broke all records for the Capital, making this the wettest May ever, with Delhi logging a copious 186.4mm of rainfall this month, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) available since 1901. The previous record for May was 165mm in 2008, data showed. Till 8.30 am on Sunday, Delhi recorded 81.4mm rainfall in 24 hours, making Sunday the city-state’s second wettest 24-hour rain spell ever in May. The highest is 119.3mm in 24 hours on May 20, 2021.

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Winds gusting at 82 km/hour swept through the region, and over 400 flights were delayed and 49 diverted to nearby airports. While the weather agency has not issued a colour-coded alert for the week ahead, it has forecast that sporadic light rain will persist, often being accompanied by thunderstorms with winds reaching up to 50km/hour.

Videos online showed the fabric covering the area outside Terminal 1 at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) apparently tearing after water accumulation and the water then gushing onto the road. The airport operator, Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), described this as the design’s natural response.

“As a part of the design’s natural response to extreme conditions and to prevent excessive water retention, a section of the external tensile fabric at the Terminal 1 arrival forecourt adjusted under pressure, thereby aiding in water dispersal. There was no structural compromise or impact to other parts of the terminal,” a DIAL spokesperson said. Last year, a 45-year-old cab driver was killed and eight others sustained injuries after a portion of the roof at T1 collapsed during heavy rains, crushing at least three cars.

Waterlogging in key areas

Widespread waterlogging was reported in parts of the city in the early hours of the day. Infamous waterlogging hotspots such as Minto Road bridge, Azadpur, ITO, T1 IGIA and Zakhira flyover remained inundated till noon. Commuters were left stranded in the underpasses and roads leading to the Delhi airport. Visuals also emerged of multiple vehicles and buses stranded in at least two underpasses in Delhi, including under the Minto Road bridge.

The Public Works Department said it received a total of 117 waterlogging-related complaints. The Delhi traffic police also issued multiple advisories throughout the day, asking people to avoid stretches such as GT Karnal road and the Azad Market underpass, among others. According to the MCD monsoon report, complaints related to waterlogging were received from Moti Bagh, Puna Apartments near Patparganj and West Patel Nagar.

The storm uprooted over 180 trees across the city, some falling on power cables, leading to outages. A senior PWD official said that more than 168 tree-related complaints were filed with the agency after the storm, but several were related to leaning branches. The complaints come from across the city, including Paschim Vihar, Mukherjee Nagar, GK1 and Ashok Vihar, among others.

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Delhi’s power distribution companies (discoms) said the storm damaged electrical installations, including cables and transformers. Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited said outages were reported from Bawana, Sector 25 Rohini, Badli, Mangolpuri, Pitampura, NIA Phase-1 Naraina, Rampura, and Inderpuri, among other areas. Other key areas where power outages were recorded included Vikaspuri, Mundka, Hari Nagar, Mukherjee Nagar, Chattarpur, Mayapuri, Sangam Vihar and Madipur, among others, BSES said.

3 active weather systems at play

An IMD official said that while such thunderstorms are common during the pre-monsoon season when moisture-laden southeasterly winds interact with drier westerly winds, the intensity of Sunday’s event was magnified by three active weather systems – a western disturbance and two cyclonic circulations.

“The western disturbance lies as an upper air cyclonic circulation over north Punjab and adjoining Jammu & Kashmir. There was also an upper air cyclonic circulation over northwest Uttar Pradesh and adjoining north Haryana in the lower tropospheric levels, 1.5km above mean sea level. Further, an upper air cyclonic circulation over west Rajasthan and its neighbouring areas lay in the lower tropospheric levels and this brought additional moisture,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

IMD reported that wind speed in Delhi peaked around 2am, touching 82km/hour at Safdarjung and 72km/hour at Palam. The storm also caused a sharp dip in temperature between 1.15am and 2.30am. “At Safdarjung, the temperature fell from 31°C to 21°C, while at Palam, it dropped from 29°C to 22°C. Delhi’s minimum temperature was logged at 19.8°C, which was seven degrees below normal,” the official said.

IMD data also showed most parts of the city recorded heavy rainfall. IMD classifies rainfall as heavy if it is over 64.4mm in 24 hours. While Safdarjung logged 81.4mm, the station at Rajghat recorded 75.5mm, Pusa 71.5mm, Lodhi Road 69.6mm, Ridge 69.1mm and Palam 68.5mm.

Delhi’s maximum on Sunday recorded a reading of 31.6°C, which was nine degrees below normal. The maximum is expected to be between 34-36°C on Monday, with the minimum hovering at 24-26°C, IMD said.

It has been an unusually wet May, marked by a series of sudden and intense dust storms and thunderstorms. In the three previous storms this month, a total of at least 12 deaths have been reported due to house collapses, electrocution and uprooted trees falling on vehicles or people.

On May 2, Delhi was caught off-guard, with 77mm of rainfall recorded in a single day – the second-highest spell of rain ever in May until Sunday’s spell. On May 17, gusty winds once again hit the city, accompanied by a short but intense shower where four people died. In the previous spell on May 21, which recorded winds up to 80km/hour, three deaths were reported.