Downpour brings Delhi to standstill

Heavy rain inundated several low-lying areas leading to huge traffic jams and collapse of a portion of a terminal building at the IGI airport here.

Parts of Raisina Road, right next to Central Secretariat metro station, caved in forming a 10-metre deep crater. No one was injured in the incident. A wall collapse was also reported from the Paharganj area.

The rain, which started at around 3 pm and continued for around two hours, lead to massive traffic snarls across the city, stranding people.

“I got stranded at Parliament Street for more than an hour. The traffic still shows no signs of moving. I am worried about my mother at home,” said Muthuvel, a senior manager at a private firm.

The rain brought down temperature from 35 degrees Celsius to 24 degrees, with the city recording 74 mm rainfall till 5.30 pm.

Flight operations at the Indira Gandhi International Aiport were hit due to rain and water-logging which also led to the collapse of a part of the newly-built domestic departure terminal building.

However, there were no reports of anyone being injured in the collapse, sources at the airport said. As the visibility at the airport dropped, many flights were diverted to nearby airports.