After enduring scorching heat for several weeks, the national capital on Friday witnessed heavy rainfall, breaking an 88-year record of precipitation in a single day, causing flooding and massive traffic jams across the city.
According to the Meteorological Department, Delhi recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall between 8:30am on Thursday and 8:30am on Friday, the highest 24-hour rainfall in June since 1936. The IMD data showed 148.5 mm of rain, much of this coming in just a three-hour window between 2:30 am 5:30 am. "The highest ever rainfall recorded in 24 hours at Safdarjung, the primary observatory of Delhi, during the month of June was 235.5 mm on June 28, 1936. The 228.1 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Friday is three times more than the June rainfall average of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month since 1936. On June 24, 1936, 235.5 mm rainfall was recorded in the month of June in Delhi. On June 24, 1933, 139.7 mm rainfall was recorded while Delhi recorded 191.6 mm rainfall on June 30, 1981," the IMD said.
"They are checking 24-hour rainfall records for every year since then to see whether this is the second-highest spell after that," officials added.
IMD data showed 228.1 mm of rainfall was recorded at Safdarjung, the city's primary weather station, 192.8 mm at Lodhi Road, Mausam Bhavan, 150.4 mm at Ridge, 106.6 mm at Palam, and 66.3 mm at Ayanagar in the last 20 to 30 hours. The IMD, which defines very heavy rain as rainfall amounting to between 124.5 and 244.4 mm in a day, said later in the morning that the monsoon has arrived. The downpour began around 3 am.
In many residential areas, locals had to wade through knee-deep to waist-deep water to leave their homes. Water-logging in many areas of the city led to a flood-like situation forcing vehicles to crawl in massive traffic jams.
In several areas, vehicles were submerged as rain water flooded streets. Many areas experienced severe power cuts and saw uprooting of trees.
In Kishanganj, passengers trapped inside a bus under the flooded Kodia Bridge underpass were pulled out by police and rescue teams. Using life jackets and water tubes tied with ropes, officials waded through the water to take out the passengers.
Bungalows of Delhi Water Minister Atishi and several MPs, including Congress's Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari and Samjawadi Party's Ramgopal Yadav, were also flooded.
Sharing a video of his waterlogged house on X, Tharoor in a post said carpets and furniture, indeed anything on the ground, were "ruined".
"This is the corner just outside my home in Lutyens' Delhi. Woke up to find my entire home under a foot of water. Carpets and furniture, indeed anything on the ground, ruined.
"Apparently the storm water drains in the neighbourhood are all clogged so the water had no place to go. And they switched off the electricity since 6 am for fear of electrocuting people. Warned my Parliament colleagues that I might not make it there without a boat. But the city managed to pump water out of the roads and I did arrive in time!," he said.
Congress MP Manish Tewari was seen wading through rain water near his residence with shoes held in his one hand and pants folded up to knees while he was heading for the Parliament. In a video on social media, Ram Gopal Yadav is seen carried by his staff to his car as rain water entered his house. Key tunnels like the one at Pragati Maidan were closed and reports of homes being flooded came in from across the city, including the upscale areas of Lutyens' Delhi.
The IMD classifies rainfall as 'light' when it is between 2.5mm and 15.5mm; as 'moderate' when it is between 15.6mm and 64.4mm; as 'heavy' when it is between 64.5mm and 115.5mm and as 'very heavy' when over 115.5mm in a 24-hour window, making this a 'very heavy' rainfall spell.The last time Delhi recorded very heavy rainfall at Safdarjung was on July 9, 2023, when 153mm was recorded in a 24-hour window.
This extreme spell of rain comes as a stark contrast to what has been a fairly dry year for Delhi. Between January 1 and June 27, Safdarjung has only received 51.1mm of rainfall, with the highest 24-hour day spell of rain this year being 26.5mm, which was recorded on February 1.
Drains in the national capital overflowed due to high water flow.Visuals shared by people on social media showed roads inundated and long traffic snarls in parts of Delhi. Several parts of Delhi experienced long power cuts on Friday due to technical faults and precautionary shutdowns implemented to prevent electrocution in waterlogged areas following heavy rainfall. Many areas, including Nizamuddin, Jangpura, Sector 7 in Dwarka, parts of Pitampura, Rohini, Model Town, Mukherjee Nagar, Timarpur, parts of Hauz Khas, Green Park, Mayapuri, Sangam Vihar, Paharganj, Sadar Bazar, Ram Nagar, Bara Hindu Rao, Karawal Nagar, Sonia Vihar, Seelampur, Laxmi Nagar, and Trilok Puri, faced power outages of varying durations.
"Heavy rains caused power disruptions in several areas of the city, primarily due to waterlogging and the falling of trees and branches on electricity cables. To safeguard human lives and prevent electrocution, it became necessary to cut the electricity supply in some waterlogged and low-lying areas as a precautionary measure," a spokesperson of BSES discoms (distribution companies) BRPL and BYPL said.
This rainfall brought relief from the intense heat but significantly disrupted daily life.Delhi usually receives an average of 80.6 mm of rain in June. The recent downpour, however, highlighted deficiencies in the city's infrastructure.
