Delhi logged over five deaths, nearly 3,000 calls for traffic jams, 26 for building collapses and 119 for waterlogging after going into chaos following Wednesday's (July 31) record cloudburst-like rainfall that even flooded Rajinder Nagar area, where students have been protesting over the death of three UPSC aspirants in a flooded basement of Rau's IAS Study Circle coaching centre on July 27.
Several parts of Delhi remained waterlogged on Thursday, August 1, as well , a day after heavy showers unleashed chaos in the city.
Six weather stations across Delhi recorded over 100 mm of rain in a single day, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday, categorising it as an "extremely intense spell".
On Wednesday, according to IMD's Automatic Weather Station (AWS) network, the Pragati Maidan observatory in central Delhi recorded 112.5 mm of rainfall in one hour. An extreme amount of precipitation in a short period, specifically 100 mm of rainfall within an hour, is defined by the IMD as a "cloudburst".
Delhi Rain Chaos | Some Key Updates
Rain In Delhi: According to the IMD, the city's primary weather station, Safdarjung, recorded 107 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, ending Thursday morning. Other stations, which also received significant rainfall, included Mayur Vihar (147 mm), Najafgarh and Ridge (113 mm), Lodi Road (106 mm) and Delhi University (104 mm), it said.
Rajinder Nagar Flooded: Rajinder Nagar area, which has become the epicentre of protest following the death of three UPSC aspirants in a flooded basement of a coaching centre, was among the areas heavily waterlogged on Wednesday, with MCD officials toiling till early hours to pump out the water. Students continued to protest despite the adverse weather conditions demanding accountability from authorities.
26 Building Collapse Calls: Till 12 am, the Delhi Police received 26 calls of building collapse and one more such incident was reported till 7 am on Thursday, data cited in a news agency PTI report showed.
Delhi Rains | Deaths: Among the deaths, one person was killed in north Delhi's Subzi Mandi area and three more were injured -- two in Shastri Park and one in Defence Colony. On Wednesday, a 22-year-old woman and her three-year-old son drowned in east Delhi's Ghazipur after they slipped into a drain due to waterlogging. The incident occurred near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under construction.
Delhi Rains | Deaths: In two separate incidents, a 12-year-old boy and 26-year-old man were electrocuted in southwest and southeast Delhi on Wednesday. The 12-year-old was electrocuted while returning from tuition in Bindapur area. He was electrocuted after coming in contact with an open electric cable near his house. The 26-year-old man had gone to his terrace where he died due to electric current.
Nearly 3,000 Traffic Jam Calls: Data showed that 2,727 calls related to traffic jams and 119 calls of waterlogging were received till 12 am. There were another 218 calls of traffic jams and eight of waterlogging till 7 am, it showed. Fifty calls for uprooted trees were also received by police during this duration. Roads in several areas, including ITO, Rajghat, Mother Dairy, Ganesh Nagar and Patparganj Road, remained waterlogged on Thursday morning.
Apart from the above-mentioned woes, at least 10 flights that were to land at the Delhi airport were diverted on Wednesday evening due to heavy rains in the national capital. Schools were also ordered to be shut for Thursday in view of the heavy rains.
An official said that at least 10 flights were diverted at the airport after 1930 hours due to bad weather. Of these, eight were diverted to Jaipur and two flights to Lucknow.
The national capital witnessed heavy rains that also caused waterlogging and traffic congestion in several areas.
On social media platform X, airlines said that flights might get affected due to the bad weather.
Vistara said flight UK998 from Pune to Delhi has been diverted to Lucknow due to bad weather at the Delhi airport.
