Morning rain chokes Delhi: Traffic hit, trees fall and vehicles break down

New Delhi
Heavy rainfall on Thursday morning took the Capital by surprise, waterlogging entire localities, felling trees and causing vehicular breakdowns, all of which paralysed city roads and led to long traffic backlogs across Delhi during the morning rush hour.
The Safdarjung weather station, which is representative of Delhi weather, clocked 77.1mm of rainfall till 8.30am, of which 63mm of rainfall was recorded between 2.30am and 5.30am, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
IMD, which got its forecast wrong, blamed the combination of the monsoon trough being close to Delhi-NCR and moisture being fed by active weather systems in the vicinity. “We are seeing the impact of a western disturbance, a cyclonic circulation over Uttar Pradesh and even a deep depression over Saurashtra in Gujarat, all of which is leading to moisture incursion,” an IMD official said.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said there was severe waterlogging in Rangpuri Pahadi, Anguri Bagh Chandni Chowk, Nanakpur in Hari Nagar, Alipur, East Patel Nagar, Sector 4 in RK Puram and Tihar village, among other places. There were also 18 complaints of trees falling from East of Kailash, Mansarovar Garden, Machine Street in Vivek Vihar, Shankar Road, Amethi Market, Saket, Shastri Nagar, East Moti Bagh, Johripur and Sultanpuri, among other locations.
A portion of a building also collapsed in Baba Faridpuri, Anand Parbat, in the early hours, but there was no casualty.
Delhi Fire Services (DFS) Atul Garg said that at 2.50am on Thursday, the fire control room received a call regarding a building collapse in Harish Wali Gali in Baba Faridpuri. “A portion of the first and second floor balconies of an old building collapsed. Nobody was injured in the incident,” Garg said.
Dikshu Kukreja, an urban town planner, said Delhi’s waterlogging crisis stems from outdated infrastructure and poor planning. “There is a need to revamp the drainage system and make it an efficient one that is able to handle intense spells of rain. We also need to integrate green infrastructure. Increasing concretisation of the city needs to be balanced with planning to allow water percolation into the soil. An integrated water management authority needs to be established and stormwater design and management has to be through this single unified agency,” he said.
The Delhi Traffic Police also issued an advisory for impacted traffic near the airport, given the heavy waterlogging at Dhaula Kuan and the GGR underpass. The Parade Road underpass in Delhi Cantonment, Pul Prahladpur underpass, and those at Sarita Vihar and Kishanganj were also flooded.
IMD predicts rain-free weekend
IMD did not issue a colour-coded alert for Friday, forecasting scattered light spells of rainfall. However, there was no forecast of rain for Saturday or Sunday.
Mahesh Palawat, vice-president at IMD, said a deep depression over central India is pulling away the monsoon trough again, but it is expected to return to Delhi-NCR by Monday, leading to light or moderate rainfall.
“This may be the last intense spell of August, but September is expected to start on a similar note,” he said.
On Thursday, the skies remained overcast but only 11.8mm of rainfall was recorded from 8.30am to 5.30am. The maximum temperature was 28.8°C, which was six degrees below the normal and the lowest for August in four years, since a maximum of 27.7°C was recorded on August 20, 2020. The minimum temperature was 23°C, which was three degrees below the normal.
Other than central Delhi, intense showers were also recorded in southwest Delhi. The Palam weather station recorded 54.5mm of rainfall, and the Ayanagar station 62.4mm. In north, east and west Delhi, mostly moderate rainfall was recorded. The Delhi University station logged 17mm till 8.30am, the Mayur Vihar station 30.5mm and the Pitampura station 26.5mm.
IMD classifies rainfall as “heavy” when it is over 64.4mm in a 24-hour period. The Lodhi Road weather station recorded 92.2mm of rainfall till 8.30am, of which 89.6mm occurred overnight. It logged 13.5mm till 5.30pm.
Delhi’s air quality also improved, recording an air quality index of 60 (satisfactory) on Thursday, up from an AQI of 70 recorded a day before.