Heavy rains in Delhi break 46-year record for Monsoon

New Delhi, Sep 11 (PTI): Record heavy rains lashed many parts of the national capital on Saturday, making it the wettest monsoon season in 46 years and causing extensive waterlogging that affected operations at the Delhi airport, disrupted traffic on key roads and left passengers trapped in vehicles in flooded underpasses.
Delhiites woke up to the sound of thunder and lightning this morning and, according to the weather department, the city recorded 117.9 mm rainfall from 5:30 AM to 2.30 PM.
It had recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall on two consecutive days at the start of the month — 112.1 mm on September 1 and 117.7 mm on September 2.
As many as 262 waterlogging complaints were received by the public works department and civic agencies till Saturday afternoon (1.30 PM), a recurring problem in the city during the Monsoon. An old building in Delhi’s Narela area, which was declared a dangerous structure by civic authorities, collapsed. However, no one was injured in the incident, officials said.
As the forecourt of the Delhi airport was also waterlogged, three flights were cancelled and five diverted to Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
Images shared on social media, purportedly of the area, showed submerged cars and the people wading through the water to reach the entry gate of the airport.
Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that he spoke to airport officials and “was told that the waterlogged forecourt was cleared up within 30 minutes”.
The Aerocity area — which houses multiple luxury hotels — near the airport was also waterlogged in the morning with people trying to maneuver their cars through the accumulated water, showed another set of videos.
The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said the waterlogging at the forecourt was “for a short period” and operations have been back to normal since 9 AM.
Sources said four domestic flights — two of SpiceJet and one each of IndiGo and Go First — were diverted to Jaipur. One international flight — Emirates flight from Dubai to Delhi — was diverted to Ahmedabad, the sources mentioned.
They also said that three IndiGo flights that were scheduled to depart from Delhi were cancelled due to bad weather.
Delhi Fire Service safely rescued 40 passengers from a bus that was trapped at an underpass of Palam flyover towards airport road due to waterlogging, officials said.
The call seeking assistance was received at around 11.30 AM after which two fire tenders were pressed into service, they said.
Traffic police advised commuters to avoid roads that were affected due to waterlogging.
“There is waterlogging on NH 48 near Gurugram/Parade Road Crossing. Vehicles going from Dhaula Kuan to Gurugram are the worst affected.
“These vehicles may take the right turn on Carriappa marg and take a left turn from Thimmaayya Chowk on Thimmaayya Marg to reach Airport/ Gurgaon, traffic police said in a tweet.
People posted pictures and videos of waterlogged streets on social media. In a video on Twitter purportedly showing waterlogging in Madhu Vihar, some DTC cluster buses could be seen standing in the water, and other commuters manoeuvring their vehicles through the inundated road.