IMD says monsoon has arrived in Delhi, capital sees highest single-day rainfall in last 88 years

In an official statement, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that the Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the entire Delhi region.

New Delhi: The south west monsoon reached Delhi on Friday with a bang as a very intense spell of rain – highest rainfall in the last 88 years - brought the national capital to its knee, leading to collapse of a roof in a terminal building of Delhi airport, flooding of the railway stations and underpasses, and submergence of many arterial roads in central and south Delhi.

The worst affected was the Lutyen’s Delhi that was badgered by over 228 mm of rain in 12 hours since 8.30 pm on Thursday. With the Parliament in sessions, some of the MPs like Congress’s Manish Tiwari or Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav were seen wading through waters in their flooded homes or carried by others as they started for the House.

The downpour according to the India Meteorological Department, was the second highest 24-hours cumulative rainfall recorded at Safdarjung after 235.5 mm registered in June 1936. In other words, this was the highest single-day rainfall in the last 88 years.

While Safderjung logged the maximum, nearby Lodhi Road station recorded 192.8 mm while it was 150.4 mm at Delhi ridge and 106.6 mm at Palam.

“Light to moderate rainfall at most places observed over Delhi during 0430 hours till 0830 hours on June 28. Isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall with (64 to 124 mm) at a few places with isolated extremely heavy rainfall with (over 204 mm) accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds up to 15-25 km per hour also occurred in the same period,” said R K Jenamani, a senior IMD scientist.

People living in the national capital region woke up to a rain soaked morning, which initially came as a reprieve after a prolonged period of heat wave.

But within hours many were at the receiving end as water entered their homes, submerged vehicles and led to traffic snarls that took hours to detangle. Thousands of commuters were stranded and many were not able to make it to their offices or other appointments in time.

IMD announced the arrival of the south west monsoon in Delhi, a day ahead of its scheduled arrival date.

“Southwest monsoon further advanced into some more parts of west Rajasthan, parts of Haryana, entire Delhi, more parts of Uttar Pradesh and remaining parts of east Rajasthan Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand,” he said.

Weather scientists have predicted an active monsoon phase in the next 2-3 weeks with heavy rains along the west coast and north India. “There is also a high probability of extreme rains and flooding in north India and the administration should be on alert,” said a scientist.