Overnight rain drowns Delhi

Delhi received 81.22mm of rainfall—classified as “very heavy” and certainly unusual for May—between 11.30pm on Saturday and 5.30am on Sunday. Gust winds of 82kmph also stormed Delhi

Intense thunderstorms and rainfall on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday laid bare authorities’ “pre-monsoon preparedness” plans, with usual waterlogging hot spots—Minto Bridge, Azadpur, ITO, airport approach and Zakhira—severely inundated with knee-deep water on arterial stretches waist-high water in underpasses.

Traffic congestion at Ram Tula Rao Marg on Sunday. (Vipin Kumar/HT)

As Delhi was battered overnight, flights were disrupted, trees and electricity poles were uprooted, and roads filled with water were a common sight. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi received 81.22mm of rainfall—classified as “very heavy” and certainly unusual for May—between 11.30pm on Saturday and 5.30am on Sunday. Gust winds of 82 kilometres per hour speed also stormed through the city, as per IMD data.

Commuters heading to the airport in the early hours of the day were stranded as underpasses and roads leading to Terminal-1 remained inaccessible. In at least two instances, buses and multiple other vehicles were caught in the flooded underpasses.

Although the effect was minimised due to the rain occurring on a weekend, the severe waterlogging triggered a political blame game between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Delhi government. The AAP questioned the “absence of the Public Works Department minister”, while the BJP hit back at the AAP’s failure to tackle monsoon issues over the years and said the government proactively took remedial measures.

No hot-spot resolution

A PWD official, on condition of anonymity, said that more than 117 waterlogging-related complaints were received by the control room, but several of these pertained to other agencies and some were overlapping complaints related to the same site.

According to the official, the prominent waterlogged spots included the Minto Bridge, Zakhira Underpass, Ashok Vihar Underpass, Mashuban Chowk Underpass, Dhaula Kuan Ring Road towards Naraina, roads near the New Delhi Railway Station, and the Majnu Ka Tila Outer Ring Road section, among others.

Several of these sites have been earmarked as “waterlogging hot spots”, where the PWD assured to have undertaken multiple corrective measures. However, scenes from early Sunday depicted a vastly different picture.

Visuals from Delhi’s Minto Road show a car submerged due to severe waterlogging caused by heavy rainfall. This was not an isolated incident, as a bus and a car were also submerged in a flooded underpass near the Delhi Cantonment, close to Manekshaw Centre. A highlighted waterlogging hot spot close to the ITO, near the PWD headquarters, was also inundated.

The PWD official said that water was pumped out from most of the sites by afternoon. “It was an unprecedented heavy rain over a very short time period which led to waterlogging,” the official said.

According to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s (MCD’s) monsoon report, complaints related to waterlogging were received from only Moti Bagh, Puna apartments near Patparganj and West Patel Nagar. MCD’s report is compiled from complaints filed at the central control room.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) reported five instances of waterlogging, near Nyay Marg, Tughalq Road and Teen Murti Road, among other places, but said the thunderstorm damaged at least 34 trees at Shajahan Road, Akbar Road, Bikaner House, and Babar Road, among other places.

Political blame game

The AAP, the main Opposition party in the Capital, on Sunday slammed the BJP-led city dispensation over the waterlogging in the national capital, calling it a failure of the “four-engine” government.

In a post on X, former Delhi chief minister Atishi posted pictures of waterlogged roads at Dhaula Kuan, Delhi Cantonment, and ITO.

Sharing a video from Minto Bridge—a spot chronically afflicted with waterlogging—Atishi posted: “A car submerged under Minto Bridge after little rain. It is clear that the four-engine government has failed,” she posted on X in Hindi.

The AAP also questioned the PWD minister’s alleged absence. “Will Parvesh Verma be removed as PWD minister? Why is he not on the ground even after water logging has happened? Why is he hiding?” Atishi posted on X

The BJP hit back, with its Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva saying that the current dispensation has bettered waterlogging measures. “All BJP MLAs and councillors, along with officials from the Delhi Jal Board and Public Works Department, took to the streets—despite it being a Sunday. By 9am, most trees had been cleared and much of the waterlogging removed, easing traffic across the city. By noon, the situation had been brought under control,” he said.

“After every rain episode, the people of Delhi can clearly see the difference between the former Arvind Kejriwal government and the current BJP-led administration.”

Traffic affected

Large-scale waterlogging caused traffic congestion and traffic police issued advisories.

In one advisory, traffic police said GTK Road in the carriageway from Vikram Batra Flyover towards Azadpur was waterlogged near Jahangirpuri Metro Station, and urged commuters to avoid the stretch.

“Movement of traffic is restricted at Azad Market Underpass in both the carriageways from Azad Market towards Pratap Nagar and vice-versa due to water logging. As a result, traffic is restricted and diversions have been implemented,” another traffic alert read.

Vehicles moving from Rani Jhansi Road were diverted towards Barf Khana, and those coming from Barf Khana were diverted towards Pul Mithai and Idgah. The traffic from Pul Mithai is being sent towards Barf Khana and Rani Jhansi Road, while the vehicles from Vir Banda Bairagi Marg are being diverted towards Old Rohtak Road, police said in a third advisory.

According to a third alert, traffic was also affected on Rohtak Road (National Highway 10) on both carriageways due to waterlogging and road repairs.