100mm rain in 3 hours on Tuesday makes it Delhi’s wettest July in 18 years

The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded 100mm rainfall in just three hours (between 5.30 am and 8.30 am) on Tuesday morning, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Season’s heaviest rain in Delhi on Tuesday morning inundated key road stretches and low-lying areas, flooded residential colonies and led to long traffic jams.

Children play on a waterlogged street after heavy rains near ITO in New Delhi. (PTI)

The Safdarjung observatory, which provides representative data for the city, recorded 100mm rainfall in just three hours (between 5.30 am and 8.30 am) on Tuesday morning, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Another 1.8 mm rain was recorded from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. IMD data shows that the Delhi has recorded 381mm rainfall so far this month, the highest for July since 2003 when the national capital recorded 632.2mm. Normally, Delhi records 210.6 mm precipitation in July.

On Tuesday, the Palam weather station saw the heaviest rainfall with 68 mm 24-hour rain ending at 8.30 am and another 59.4 mm during the day ending at 5.30pm. The Lodhi Road station recorded 86.8mm rain over the past 24 hours and another 0.5mm during the day. Aya Nagar station got 69.8mm 24-hour rainfall and another 27.4 mm throughout the day. Delhi Ridge station received 38.2 mm 24-hour rainfall with another 6.3mm during the day.

The IMD rain guages define 24-hour rainfall from 8.30am of a day to 8.30am the next day.

“With some days still left for July-end and more showers are likely, the cumulative rainfall count for the month could even surpass previous records. Light to moderate showers are predicted even on Wednesday. Besides, another spell of moderate rain is likely to hit the city on July 30-31,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, IMD’s head of regional weather forecasting centre.

With Tuesday’s rain, Srivastava added, July already has a surplus rainfall of 108% at the Safdarjung observatory. “The maximum rainfall in Delhi is observed between July 10 and August-end. Moreover, Delhi sees more frequent spells of rainfall in August when easterly winds and the positioning of the monsoon trough, the primary conditions for rainfall, are favourable. So far it seems that Delhi is likely to have a normal monsoon,” he said.

According to Mahesh Palawat, vice-president (meteorology), Skymet Weather, the number of rain days has reduced over the last few years, and extreme weather events have increased. “Cities are recording more rainfall in a shorter period of time. Earlier, 100 mm rainfall would occur over three to four days. Now, we have been receiving this much precipitation in just five-six hours,” he said.

Waterlogging and jams across city

According to the Delhi traffic police, nearly 50 stretches were inundated and pumps were installed to flush out excess water. “Most of these stretches are from the list of 150-odd waterlogging-prone points across the city, which is shared with the civic and road management agencies every year ahead of the monsoon,” said a senior police officer asking not to be named.

At least 11 vehicles, including state-run buses, broke down on different stretches, including Tilak Nagar, Badarpur, Dhuala Kuan, and traffic had to be diverted to alternate routes or slip roads. There were also reports of low-floor buses getting inundated and passengers stranded inside them being rescued by rickshaws, said the official.

“A portion of a road caved in at the Rafi Marg crossing. Traffic from the stretch between Rail Bhawan and Sunehri Bagh Road was diverted to Dr Rajendra Prasad Road via Janpath,” said the official.

As per data shared by the traffic police, the other stretches that were submerged in knee-deep water causing long traffic snarls include Pul Prahladpur underpass (both carriageways), 11 Murti Marg, Red Cross Road, Dwarka underpass, Sardar Patel Marg to Dhaula Kuan, road outside Qutub Minar Metro station, Mehrauli-Badarpur (MB) Road, Tilak Nagar, IP Estate, Vikas Marg, Africa Avenue, Seelampur flyover-Dilshad Garden, Zakhira underpass, Azad Market, among others.

Commuters stuck in traffic jams tweeted photos, tagging the Delhi traffic police and other authorities, seeking help.

“Continuous standing here since last 1 hour...Huge traffic jam..plz help...MB Road, South Delhi,” tweeted Rishang Sharma at 12.13pm.

“Just one rain again and whole Delhi seems to have come to a standstill!! Stuck in huge traffic jam near Dhaula kuan,” tweeted Pankaj Roy at 9.34am.

The Delhi Traffic Police also tweeted updates about waterlogging and the areas where traffic movement was affected.

Trees uprooted, residential areas flooded

Data shared by the police and the three municipal corporations showed that the heavy showers also led to over 20 trees being uprooted across Delhi.

Besides, residential colonies also reported flooding. Areas such as Saket, Vasant Kunj, Munirka, CR Park, Lajpat Nagar, Maharani Bagh, Mayapuri, Kailash Colony, Dwarka, RK Puram, Alaknanda apartments, Khanpur, Uttam Nagar, New Rajendra Ngaar, Karol Bagh, Anand Parbat, Ashok Vihar and Laxmi Nagar reported waterlogging during the day.

Municipal corporations blamed the PWD and the state’s irrigation and flood control (I&FC) department for not cleaning up stormwater drains along arterial roads that they said overflow on internal streets.

“Every monsoon, the major stretches get submerged in water causing major trouble to commuters. This is mainly because the major drains under the PWD are not being maintained, even causing them to overflow to residential lanes,” said South Corporation mayor Mukesh Suryan.

However, PWD officials said that they do not want to engage in the blame game. “Where there is heavy rain, low-lying areas do get flooded. We take immediate action and install pumps to flush out the excess water. There are long-term plans underway to combat the problem,” a senior PWD official said.