After heavy rain in Delhi, parts of airport, other areas waterlogged

The rain has affected operations at the Delhi airport and airlines have said departures and arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected in the national capital.

Several areas, including the Delhi airport, were waterlogged after heavy rain lashed the Capital on Saturday as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast “generally cloudy sky, heavy rain/thundershowers, very heavy rain at isolated places towards night”. “We regret the inconvenience caused. Due to sudden heavy rain, for a short period, there was waterlogging at the forecourt. Our team was immediately aligned to look into it and the issue has been resolved,” the Delhi International Airport Limited said, according to news agency ANI.

Traffic is seen in a waterlogged area following heavy rain in New Delhi,  (PTI Photo)

ANI tweeted a video clip that showed aircraft on the ground at the partially flooded Delhi airport. The bad weather has affected operations at the airport with airlines, including IndiGo and SpiceJet, saying departures and arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected as a result of the rain in the national capital. The news agency also cited an airport official as saying that four domestic flights and one international flight were diverted from Delhi to Jaipur and Ahmedabad due to heavy rainfall in the national capital.

Waterlogging, traffic advisories in Delhi

Several users posted photographs and videos of waterlogged areas on social media in the Sadar Bazar area, near Minto bridge, ITO, and Nangloi flyover. In a video on Twitter purportedly showing waterlogging in Madhu Vihar, some DTC buses could be seen standing in the water, and other commuters manoeuvring their vehicles through the inundated road.

The Public Works Department (PWD) said it has deployed its employees on the ground to pump out water from the streets. "Due to heavy rain in the early morning (on Saturday), waterlogging occurred at a number of places. We are tackling those issues on priority. Our staff is present round the clock to monitor the situation," a PWD official said, according to news agency PTI.

The Delhi Traffic Police also posted tweets informing people about the stretches where they are expected to witness waterlogging. "Traffic Alert. Traffic is heavy due to water logging at GGR/PDR. Kindly Avoid the Stretch," it said in a tweet around 11 am. "Traffic Alert. Water logging near WHO on Ring Road. Kindly Avoid the Stretch," it said in another tweet.

More rain forecast in Delhi

The India Meteorological Department, which issued an orange alert for Delhi on Friday, said more rain is expected. “Thunderstorm with heavy to very heavy intensity rain would occur over and adjoining areas of few places of Delhi( Akshardham, Shahadra, Preet Vihar), NCR (Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Loni Dehat, Hindon AF, Indirapuram, Chapraula ),” it tweeted at 12:10pm.

The IMD said on Saturday that the highly unusual monsoon season this year has yielded 1,100mm of rainfall in Delhi so far, the highest in 46 years, and almost double the precipitation recorded last year. "The Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, had gauged 1,150 mm of rainfall in the 1975 monsoon season. This year, the precipitation has already hit the 1,100-mm mark and the season has not ended yet," an IMD official was quoted as saying by PTI.

The figures may change as more rainfall has been predicted in the city during the day. Delhi normally records 648.9mm of rainfall during the monsoon season, according to the IMD. The city normally gets 590.2 mm of rainfall between June 1, when the monsoon season starts, and September 11. The monsoon withdraws from Delhi by September 25.

(With agency inputs)