New Delhi, The monsoon arrived in Delhi on Friday, causing devastation in a city ill-prepared for a three-hour downpour that caused the roof of Delhi Airport's Terminal 1 to collapse, killing one person and suspending flight operations. and flooding many parts. From the capital.
The early morning rain, which brought India's national capital to its knees, claimed at least one more life: a 39-year-old man was electrocuted in the Rohini area. Also, three workers were trapped when a wall under construction in Vasant Vihar collapsed early in the morning. Rescue operations continued into the night and their hopes for survival diminished with each passing minute.
Delhiites woke up to a rain-soaked morning, with water rushing into homes, submerging vehicles and causing kilometer-long traffic jams that took hours to untangle. Thousands of commuters were left stranded, many of them failing to reach the office or missing crucial appointments scheduled days before. Key tunnels, including the Pragati Maidan, were closed and reports of flooded houses came in from across the city, including exclusive areas of Lutyens Delhi, Hauz Khas, South Extension and Mayur Vihar on the first day of heavy rain.
The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's main weather station, recorded 228.1 mm of rain in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am. Friday, more than three times the average June rainfall of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month in 88 years, since 1936. .
The India Meteorological Department (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 had arrived. The downpour began around from 3 in the morning.
In the airport's busy Terminal 1, the rain destruction took a tragic turn. Around 5 a.m., the enormous canopy covering the starting area gave way, trapping several people. In addition to the roof sheet, the support beams collapsed, immobilizing the parked cars.
A taxi driver, identified as Ramesh Kumar, was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen, but was declared dead when he was rushed to the Medanta Hospital premises, near the terminal. The injured were admitted to hospital "...flights to and from Terminal 1 have been closed until further notice. Alternative arrangements are being made for the smooth functioning of flights," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement. publication in X.
Delhi airport operator DIAL, which set up a technical committee to investigate the roof collapse, said in a statement: "While the cause of the collapse is being assessed, the main cause appears to be the continuous heavy rains of the last few hours."
T1 only has domestic flight operations of IndiGo and SpiceJet. The airport, which has three terminals T1, T2 and T3, handles around 1,400 flight movements daily. An IndiGo spokesperson said the unplanned situation has affected operations across the network.
In a post on X, SpiceJet said the flights have been canceled as T1 will remain partially closed for operations until further notice.
A case under Section 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) was registered against unknown persons in the airport roof collapse tragedy, officials said. Delhi Police.The chaos of the rain had the inevitable political repercussions.
The Delhi government called an emergency meeting in the afternoon to assess the situation. “It was after 1936 that Delhi received 228 mm of rain in 24 hours. This means that of the total monsoon rainfall (800 mm) in Delhi, 25 per cent fell in just 24 hours. Due to this, drainage overflow occurred in several areas and the water took time to drain,” said AAP minister Atishi.
Chairing an emergency meeting, lieutenant governor VK Saxena also took stock of the situation and directed officials to set up an emergency control room and deploy static pumps to address reports of waterlogging. Saxena noted that clearing of drains had not been completed and that the Flood Control Order had not yet been issued. He asked officials to undertake desilting work on an emergent basis over the next week, the LG's office said.
A video showed BJP councilor Ravinder Singh Negi rowing a boat on a flooded street. "For the last one month, we have been struggling to clear the drains of disabled people, but the Delhi government did nothing. As a result, today the entire city is flooded and the government has not taken any action."
Attacking the AAP's dispensation over waterlogging, the BJP also shared images of water entering Atishi's residence on Mathura Road. As Delhiites and the government grappled with the crisis, power outages were reported in many places, including Dwarka and Jangpura. Locals were seen walking in waist-deep water in many residential areas.
Among them were MPs Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, both of whom posted X-ray videos of flooding outside their homes in tony Lutyens Delhi while addressing Parliament.
“...I woke up and found my entire house under a foot of water, every room. The carpets and furniture, even anything on the floor, were ruined. Apparently the stormwater drains in the neighborhood are clogged so the water had nowhere to go,” Tharoor wrote. In another post shortly after, he said he was amazed and impressed that the tweet sparked, within minutes, a phone call from LG.
"Shri VK Saxena was courteous and responsive and explained the limitations to effective action arising from the division of responsibilities between the Union and state governments," he added.
Tewari posted a video of her leaving his house with water up to her ankles and her pants rolled up. A third MP, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, was seen being carried to his car in a widely circulated video.
Many thousands more people also suffered the brunt of the first rains of the season, days after an unprecedented harsh heatwave.
The early morning rain, which brought India's national capital to its knees, claimed at least one more life: a 39-year-old man was electrocuted in the Rohini area. Also, three workers were trapped when a wall under construction in Vasant Vihar collapsed early in the morning. Rescue operations continued into the night and their hopes for survival diminished with each passing minute.
Delhiites woke up to a rain-soaked morning, with water rushing into homes, submerging vehicles and causing kilometer-long traffic jams that took hours to untangle. Thousands of commuters were left stranded, many of them failing to reach the office or missing crucial appointments scheduled days before. Key tunnels, including the Pragati Maidan, were closed and reports of flooded houses came in from across the city, including exclusive areas of Lutyens Delhi, Hauz Khas, South Extension and Mayur Vihar on the first day of heavy rain.
The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's main weather station, recorded 228.1 mm of rain in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am. Friday, more than three times the average June rainfall of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month in 88 years, since 1936. .
The India Meteorological Department (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 had arrived. The downpour began around from 3 in the morning.
In the airport's busy Terminal 1, the rain destruction took a tragic turn. Around 5 a.m., the enormous canopy covering the starting area gave way, trapping several people. In addition to the roof sheet, the support beams collapsed, immobilizing the parked cars.
A taxi driver, identified as Ramesh Kumar, was rescued from a car on which an iron beam had fallen, but was declared dead when he was rushed to the Medanta Hospital premises, near the terminal. The injured were admitted to hospital "...flights to and from Terminal 1 have been closed until further notice. Alternative arrangements are being made for the smooth functioning of flights," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement. publication in X.
Delhi airport operator DIAL, which set up a technical committee to investigate the roof collapse, said in a statement: "While the cause of the collapse is being assessed, the main cause appears to be the continuous heavy rains of the last few hours."
T1 only has domestic flight operations of IndiGo and SpiceJet. The airport, which has three terminals T1, T2 and T3, handles around 1,400 flight movements daily. An IndiGo spokesperson said the unplanned situation has affected operations across the network.
In a post on X, SpiceJet said the flights have been canceled as T1 will remain partially closed for operations until further notice.
A case under Section 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (causing death by negligence) was registered against unknown persons in the airport roof collapse tragedy, officials said. Delhi Police.The chaos of the rain had the inevitable political repercussions.
The Delhi government called an emergency meeting in the afternoon to assess the situation. “It was after 1936 that Delhi received 228 mm of rain in 24 hours. This means that of the total monsoon rainfall (800 mm) in Delhi, 25 per cent fell in just 24 hours. Due to this, drainage overflow occurred in several areas and the water took time to drain,” said AAP minister Atishi.
Chairing an emergency meeting, lieutenant governor VK Saxena also took stock of the situation and directed officials to set up an emergency control room and deploy static pumps to address reports of waterlogging. Saxena noted that clearing of drains had not been completed and that the Flood Control Order had not yet been issued. He asked officials to undertake desilting work on an emergent basis over the next week, the LG's office said.
A video showed BJP councilor Ravinder Singh Negi rowing a boat on a flooded street. "For the last one month, we have been struggling to clear the drains of disabled people, but the Delhi government did nothing. As a result, today the entire city is flooded and the government has not taken any action."
Attacking the AAP's dispensation over waterlogging, the BJP also shared images of water entering Atishi's residence on Mathura Road. As Delhiites and the government grappled with the crisis, power outages were reported in many places, including Dwarka and Jangpura. Locals were seen walking in waist-deep water in many residential areas.
Among them were MPs Shashi Tharoor and Manish Tewari, both of whom posted X-ray videos of flooding outside their homes in tony Lutyens Delhi while addressing Parliament.
“...I woke up and found my entire house under a foot of water, every room. The carpets and furniture, even anything on the floor, were ruined. Apparently the stormwater drains in the neighborhood are clogged so the water had nowhere to go,” Tharoor wrote. In another post shortly after, he said he was amazed and impressed that the tweet sparked, within minutes, a phone call from LG.
"Shri VK Saxena was courteous and responsive and explained the limitations to effective action arising from the division of responsibilities between the Union and state governments," he added.
Tewari posted a video of her leaving his house with water up to her ankles and her pants rolled up. A third MP, Ram Gopal Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, was seen being carried to his car in a widely circulated video.
Many thousands more people also suffered the brunt of the first rains of the season, days after an unprecedented harsh heatwave.
