Delhi Rains Highlights: Death toll in rain-related incidents rises to 11 as two children die of electrocution; IMD predicts heavy showers today (2024)

The family of a 45-year-old cab driver who died after a portion of a canopy at the Delhi airport collapsed amid heavy rains is mulling to file a case against those responsible for his death.

They cremated Ramesh Kumar's body at the Naharpur crematorium on Saturday. The police had handed over the body to his family after postmortem at the Safdarjung Hospital on Saturday, a day after the incident.

Kumar's wife Asha and their daughters were inconsolable as the body arrived home. Younger daughter Bhawana (18) fainted after looking at her father's body.

The family members, however, said they will take a decision on filing a different case in the matter. (PTI)

More than 20 flights of IndiGo that were to operate from Terminal 1 of the Delhi airport were cancelled on Saturday, a day after the terminal was shut down following the roof collapse incident. A source in the know said 23 flights of IndiGo and 2 flights of SpiceJet that were scheduled to operate from T1 were cancelled on Saturday.

There was no immediate comment from IndiGo.

However, a SpiceJet source said it has shifted all T1 operations to T3 and all flights were operated on Saturday. Following the roof collapse incident, the operations at T1 were suspended on Friday. The flights that were to be operated from the terminal have been shifted to Terminal 2 (T2) and Terminal 3 (T3). (PTI)

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena inspected the city's most severely affected areas and drainage systems to assess the damage and oversee remedial measures after heavy rains lashed the city, an official statement said on Saturday.

The monsoon hit the national capital on Friday with its first rainfall, recording a very heavy 153.7 mm at Safdarjung in the three hours between 2.30 am and 5.30 am, according to the India Meteorological Department.

According to the statement, following his instructions to deal with the water-logging situation, LG Saxena visited key locations on Saturday.

Accompanied by Chief Secretary cum Chairman NDMC, Commissioner MCD, Principal Secretary PWD, and other senior officials, Saxena inspected the drains at Taimur Nagar, Barapulla Drain, ITPO, Tilak Bridge, Kushak Nallah, Golf Links, and Bharti Nagar, it said. During his visits, Saxena found all these drains heavily choked with garbage, debris, and sludge, leading to severe flooding in various parts of the city, the statement read. (PTI)

Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over Northwest and Northeast India during the next 4-5 days, IMD reported. The active monsoon conditions are likely to persist over Northwest India for the next five days while Peninsular India majorly undergoes reduced rainfall activity except in very few places, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It also stated that the Southwest monsoon further advanced on the remaining parts of Eastern and Western Uttar Pradesh.

The IMD expects thunderstorms with light to moderate intensity rain to occur over and adjoining areas of most places of Delhi-NCR during the next two hours.

#WATCH | National Capital, Delhi receives fresh spell of rain. Visuals from the Rouse Avenue Court. pic.twitter.com/eSp2SaoFHW

— ANI (@ANI) June 29, 2024

The CM who was in CBI custody has been produced before Special Judge Sunena Sharma's Court in Delhi.

Meanwhile, AAP held protest near BJP's headquarters on DDU Marg demanding his release.

Parts of Delhi, including Rohini and Burari, received rainfall this morning.

The weather office has forecast moderate to heavy rain accompanied with thunderstorms over the next seven days.

According to the IMD, moderate rain is defined as rainfall amounting to between 7.6 and 35.5 mm in a day, and heavy rain is rainfall amounting to between 64.5 and 124.4 mm in a day.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius on Saturday. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 32 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.

Anant Kumar, former PWD engineer-in-chief, said, “Delhi saw 228 mm rainfall. The city’s drainage system does not have the capacity (for this)… it is also very old and the population is constantly increasing… there is a need for an integrated master plan.”

Dr S Velmurugan, Senior Principal Scientist and Former Head, Traffic Engineering and Safety Division, Central Road Research Institute, said, “… the drainage system was designed in 1976 and needs to be revamped… Desilting, deployment of pumps to drain out water are temporary plans… the government did not learn from last year’s flooding.”

Security increased outside Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headquarters in Delhi as they stage a protest against the arrest of Delhi CM and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal by CBI. Kejriwal is going to be produced at a local court today.

“The AAP workers across the country will hold massive ‘dharna’ against the BJP for misuse of investigation agencies and Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest on Saturday,” said AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, adding that the CBI arrest was a “ploy” to keep Kerjiwal in jail at a time when the BJP “felt that Kejriwal was going to get bail from the Supreme Court”.

If the heavy rains which lashed the national capital on Friday caught you by surprise, you weren't alone. Even forecasting models "failed" to predict the extreme weather event resulting in a record 228.1 mm of rainfall, meteorologists said.

This amount is more than three times the June average of 74.1 mm and the highest for the month since 1936.
An IMD official explained that the monsoon winds interacted with the remnants of a western disturbance, causing heavy rains in Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir.

A day after the canopy collapse at Terminal 1 of the IGI airport, operation from T1 still remain suspended.

Terminal 1 handles domestic flights, including those by IndiGo and SpiceJet.

All operations have been temporarily shifted to Terminal 2 and Terminal 3, the Delhi airport confirmed in a post onX.

After Delhi recorded its highest ever single-day rainfall since 1936, several areas of the national capital faced waterlogging highlighting a glaring issue in infrastructure. But why is this such a big problem?

According to senior PWD officials and experts, key reasons are multiplicity of departments, lack of coordination, poor infrastructure, faulty design, and increasing population.

Another major reason is the long-pending ‘Drainage Master Plan’, which is yet to be implemented owing to several problems such as the initial plan being rejected to poor response to tenders.

At least 11 different agencies look after roads and drains. “There is no coordination among departments… for instance, there was confusion over which department the Barapullah drain falls under… we manage main stormwater drains but… domestic sewer water is often released into it. Due to this, the drain overflows and water comes onto the road,” said a senior PWD official.

The bodies of three labourers were on Saturday pulled from the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a construction site in the Vasant Vihar area here amid heavy rain, officials said.

With this, the number of people killed in rain-related incidents in Delhi has climbed to eight

The deceased included a cab driver who died after a portion of a canopy at the Delhi airport collapsed, a 39-year-old man who was electrocuted in Rohini's Prem Nagar area and three people who drowned in New Usmanpur and Shalimar Bagh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast generally cloudy skies with heavy rain during the day.

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 32 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.

The humidity levels stood at 80 per cent.

Last week, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) told The Indian Express that of the 713 drains it is responsible for, only 259 had been desilted. On June 27, the night before the heavy rain, the number had barely improved to 290 drains — amounting to only 40% drains being desilted, as per MCD data. However, according to the MCD, over 73,404 tonnes of silt has been removed from these drains — which is 94% of the target of 78,062 tonnes it had set for this year.

The MCD had initially set a deadline of May 30 for desilting the drains, which was then extended to June 15, and then again to June 30. Despite this, more than half of the work is yet to be complete. “The number of drains that are less than 4 feet deep in all the zones of MCD is 20,884. Their cleaning is done at the departmental level. The number of drains over 4 feet deep is 713 and their cleaning is mainly done through the tender process,” said an MCD official.

The Public Works Department (PWD) is responsible for 2,064 km of drains.

A wall breach and back-flow of water at the Barapullah Drain, one of the significant natural water basins of the capital connected to other smaller drains like it, is being blamed as one the major reasons for the flooding of several locations in South, South East and New Delhi.

A senior PWD official maintained that 80% of desilting of the city’s drainage network under the agency was completed in the first phase but all was brought to naught by the overflow of the Barapullah drain. “Drain water goes into this basin and is released into the Yamuna. But after the downpour, the water level at Barapullah spiked which led to back-flow and triggered heavy waterlogging,” the official said.

A day after a wall collapsed at a construction site in Vasant Vihar, the body of a labourer was recovered early this morning.

Two more labourers are feared trapped beneath the rubble, as per officials.

The incident occurred amid heavy rainfall yeaterday and was reported to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) around 5.30 am.

His body was recovered around 6.10 am on Saturda and was declared dead by doctors at the Safdarjung hospital.

Ramesh Kumar was the taxi driver who lost life in the incident yesterday, but eight other people were injured.

Another driver, 28-year-old Santosh Yadav, had a narrow escape.

He picked up a navy officer from Sena Bhawan, along with a flag officer. Around 5 am, he dropped the navy officer at the airport and was waiting for another officer to arrive when out of nowhere, the roof fell.

"Both of us ran for our lives, leaving the car behind. A concrete part hit my head and it split,” says Santosh.

Santosh works for a cab service called Sakshi Travels which is a regular service provider for the ministry.

He says he received first aid at Medanta hospital at T1 before being sent to Safdarjung Hospital. “I got discharged around 2 pm,” says the Lado Sarai resident.

Having been a cab driver for over a decade, Friday's routine wasn't any different for 45-year-old Ramesh Kumar.

He left his home in Rohini as usual until his car was tragically among the four vehicles that came under the falling canopy at the Delhi's Indira Gandhi airport amid heavy rainfall in the national capital.

Kumar's son Ravinder said though his father died immediately, he was kept in the dark about it for hours. “They kept me at IGI police station till 4 pm. I didn’t know till then where my father was,” says Ravinder.

Later, a compensation package of Rs 20 lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 3 lakh each for those who were injured was announced by Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu.

Even as drains continued to overflow highlighting the UT’s glaring waterlogging crisis, Lieutenant-General V K Saxena and the AAP governmentgot a new flashpoint to spar over.

On Friday as heavy rains lashed the national capital region, Delhi's L-G issued a slew of directions to Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and officials of the Public Works Department (PWD), Irrigation and Flood Control Department (I&FC), Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), and other agencies.

He also asked all senior officers on leave to report to work immediately and said no leave can be sanctioned for the next two months.

Business as Usual by E P Unny

Three labourers fell into a pit of an under-construction building in Delhi's Vasant Vihar area.

#WATCH | Rescue operation underway by NDRF, fire brigade and police officials after three labourers fell into a pit of an under-construction building in Delhi's Vasant Vihar area.

The labourers were living in temporary huts near the site and the huts collapsed into the pit due… pic.twitter.com/NDWreZzDDJ

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2024

Case files floating, furniture submerged in water, no electricity — lawyers operating their offices from basem*nts in South Extension, Jangpura, Defence Colony and other parts in Delhi stared at losses after heavy rain lashed the city on Friday.

“My staff says books are floating in the office…,” said Swarupama Chaturvedi, a senior advocate who practices in the Supreme Court. “I don’t have an estimate of the losses yet. My library at the office had some rare books that I bought from various places across the world in my 24 years of academia and litigation career,” she added.

A 39-year-old man was electrocuted while on his way to work Friday morning, after coming in contact with electricity conducted through a waterlogged road during heavy rains in the national capital.

The Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (DDL), which supplies electricity in the area, said the electrocution was caused by a faulty internal wiring issue at a private shop, which caused current to flow through the shop's tin shed and metal poles.

The responsibility for this lies with the owner or occupant of the shop, the company said in a statement. The victim, identified as Rajesh Kumar, is survived by his wife and two children, the police said.

According to a police officer, the incident took place on the Mubarakpur Road near Sheesh Mehal Enclave at about 7 am when Kumar was going for work. (PTI)

The civil aviation ministry on Friday asked airlines to ensure that there is no abnormal surge in airfares for flights to and from the national capital amid the suspension of operations at Delhi Airport's Terminal-1 following the roof collapse incident.

On Friday at around 5 am, a canopy at the old departure forecourt of Terminal-1 partially collapsed, an incident that left one person dead and at least six others injured. With the T-1, which handles domestic flight operations of IndiGo and SpiceJet, being shut, there have been flight cancellations and operations have been shifted to T-2 and T-3 temporarily.

Against this backdrop, a senior official on Friday said the ministry has asked airlines to ensure that there is no abnormal surge in airfares for flights to and from Delhi. In a series of posts on X, the ministry said airlines have been advised that cancellations and rescheduling of flights due to the incident may be done without penal charges. (PTI)

"For the first time after 1936, Delhi has seen 228 mm rainfall in 24 hours. In the entire monsoon, Delhi sees 800 mm, but Delhi has received 25 percent of the rainfall in just 24 hours... Due to heavy rains and waterlogging, the chances of electrocution increase...That is why, we had to cut the power supply in areas where waterlogging was heavy, " said Delhi Minister Atishi.

She further added: "Several decisions were taken to control the situation in the coming days. A 24-hour functioning waterlogging control will be created in the PWD headquarters. There will be officers working in an 8-hour shift. The representatives of all three big departments --PWD, MCD and I&FC will be present there and monitor the situation."

"Reviewed the water logging/flooding situation in Delhi due to heavy pre-monsoon rains, with HoDs. PWD, I&FC & DJB under GNCTD, MCD & NDMC were directed to ensure immediate steps for easing the situation & strictly implement measures to mitigate recurrence, " said Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena on X.

Slamming the government he added: "It is shocking that the Flood Control Order & de-silting of drains that should have been issued and completed by June 15 are yet pending. The Flood Control Order, normally issued after the Apex Committee meeting chaired by Hon'ble CM is pending with the Hon'ble Minister."

The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested one of the accused persons in connection with the shootout inside Burger King at Rajouri Garden on Friday.

The accused identified as Vijender alias Gogi was sent to seven days of police custody by Patiala House Court.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team rescued four people after an under-construction site collapsed on Friday. Heavy rains lashed Delhi, leaving water-logging across the city, many residential colonies without power, and inundated roads, leading to traffic chaos.

Express Photo by Abhinav Shaha

A team of forensic experts arrived at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal-1 to investigate the roof collapse incident, one person was killed and at least eight people were left injured.

#WATCH | Delhi: A team of forensic experts arrives at Delhi Airport Terminal 1 to carry out investigation into the canopy collapse incident. pic.twitter.com/3BWBKBFDuz

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2024

A car partially sank in a pothole after losing its balance due to severe waterlogging near Rohini Sector 18 metro station, earlier today.

VIDEO | Delhi: A car partially sank in a pothole after losing its balance due to severe waterlogging near Rohini Sector 18 metro station, earlier today.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/PIA1Chbuzb

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 28, 2024

Delhi Ministers Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Gopal Rai held a meeting at the Secretariat on waterlogging in various parts of the national capital.

VIDEO | Delhi Ministers Atishi (@AtishiAAP), Saurabh Bharadwaj (@Saurabh_MLAgk) and Gopal Rai (@AapKaGopalRai) hold a meeting at the Secretariat on waterlogging in various parts of the national capital.

(Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/8Xk7jVg950

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 28, 2024

• An emergency control room be established, to be manned 24x7. Senior officials from all the concerned departments to be deputed.
• Wide publicity of control room number be given for common citizens to make telephonic calls to report incidents of waterlogging.
• All static pumps of PWD, I&FC, MCD, DDA and NDMC be tested and made functional with a matrix of field staff deployed for energizing pumps on a 24x7 basis.
• Mobile pumps must be utilized as and when required. Additional pumps should be procured and deployed in low lying areas, particularly unauthorized colonies historically prone to waterlogging and underpasses and tunnels.
• Remaining desilting works of all drains to be undertaken by all concerned agencies, on an emergent basis over the next one week.
• Debris along the drains to be removed immediately. All kinds of obstructions in free flow of water in open drains to be removed.
• Traffic police to issue regular traffic advisories in case of water logging at critical locations and they should continuously share waterlogging spots to concerned departments/agencies and the central control room .
• I&FCD to regularly be in touch with their counterparts in Haryana and upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh to assess rainfall levels, discharges from Hathnikund barrage. Revenue department to activate the disaster response cell under DDMA in the eventuality of excessive rainfall.
• Assistance of NDRF to be taken for any emergency measures during monsoons. Power department to ensure that DISCOMS take preventive measures to ensure that there are no naked wires prone to short circuit in their jurisdiction.
• CS may convene a meeting of bridge owning agencies to ensure that floodplains and major drains are cleared of all kinds of debris/construction waste.
• All senior officers of municipal bodies, engineering departments should be present in field to monitor critical locations. All senior officers on leave should be asked to report back on duty immediately and no leave to be sanctioned for the next two months.

Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu, Union Minister for Civil Aviation, in his statement said, "Following the collapse of the Delhi T1 terminal this morning, I have personally inspected the site. Our immediate priority was the safe evacuation of all passengers from the terminal. Consequently, all flights scheduled until 2 PM have been cancelled. Passengers will receive full refunds or have the option to rebook alternative flights and routes.

Flights scheduled to depart after 2 PM will be operated from T2 and T3.I will see that a thorough examination of the terminal's structure is conducted by experts to ensure safety. In response to this incident, all relevant agencies, including DGCA, BCAS, CISE, Delhi Police, and NDRF, have been working in close coordination and putting their best efforts.

We are committed to providing compensation to the family of the deceased and to those injured. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji is closely monitoring the situation and has assured us of full support. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this unfortunate event."

With Delhi witnessing heavy rainfall on Friday morning, leading to water-logging across the city and inundated roads, here are some of the routes that can be skipped to avoid getting stuck in traffic:

Ring Road:Traffic slow in both directions from Naraina towards Moti Bagh and vice-versa due to waterlogging under Dhaula Kuan Flyover; traffic slow in both directions from Shanti Van towards ISBT and vice-versa due to waterlogging near Y-point Salimgarh and Nigambodh Ghat.

Aurobindo Marg:Traffic stuck in both directions from INA towards AIIMS and vice-versa due to waterlogging under AIIMS Flyover.

Tilak Bridge:Due to waterlogging below Tilak Bridge W-point, traffic disrupted on W-Point Tilak Bridge road in both carriageways from A-Point to W-Point and vice-versa.

Rohtak Road:Traffic affected on both carriageways from Rajdhani Park towards Mundka and vice-versa due to waterlogging.

Mathura Road:An uprooted tree has disrupted traffic on the carriageway from Ashram towards Badarpur.

Kalindi Kunj:Traffic affected on Road No. 13 in both directions from Kalindi Kunj towards Crown Plaza and vice-versa due to waterlogging at Okhla underpass.

Mehram Nagar:Congestion due to waterlogging at Mehram Nagar underpass towards Terminal 3.

Akshardham:Traffic affected on both carriageways from Akshardham towards Ghaziabad and vice-versa due to waterlogging at Murga Mandi roundabout at the Ghazipur Border.

Minto Road:Traffic congestion in both directions from Kamla Market towards Connaught Place and vice-versa due to waterlogging at Minto Bridge underpass.

Outer Ring Road:Traffic congestion on carriageway from Bhera Enclave Roundabout towards Peeragarhi because of waterlogging near Peeragarhi village road.

ITO:Traffic affected on IP Marg, BSZ Marg and Vikas Marg due to waterlogging and breakdown of vehicles at Tilak Bridge underpass (W-Point).

Commuters are advised to avoid inundated areas as you venture out.

A few days ago, Delhiites have been grappling with acute water shortage and soaring temperatures. With the entry of southwest monsoon in Delhi, events in the Capital turned the other way. The monsoon made its entry much before its expected date and the focus has now shifted to desilting with roads been inundated.

A senior PWD official said, "PWD has to complete the desilting by June 30. Reporters from all divisions received that 80 percent desilting has been done but we will have to check why waterlogging happened, if 80 percent desilting is done. The assessment will be done by evening."

As heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in Delhi and nearby areas, the Public Works Department said it has received more than 100 complaints of waterlogging. The calls were mainly from Jangpura, ITO and Tilak bridge, Minto bridge, Punjabi Bagh, Seelampur Gurudwara are among other areas.

PWD has closed the Pragati Maidan Tunnel for traffic movements due to heavy waterlogging.

After the roof over Terminal-I collapsed at IGI airport, here's the arrangements made by Indigo, SpiceJet airlines:

SpiceJet - All arrival and departure from Terminal 1 are being shifted to T3.

Indigo - All arrival and departure from Terminal 1 are being distributed amongst Terminal 2 & Terminal 3.

Several areas in Gurgaon including Narsinghpur on Delhi-Jaipur highway, Subhash Chowk, Sheetla Mata road, Sector 23, Artemis, and Good Earth Mall have reported waterlogging. The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority team is on the ground along with teams from the sewage section in Gurgaon to clean up sewers in the city.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon said their officials are at the waterlogged areas with adequate machinery and pump sets. Twelve JCBs, 62 suction tankers, 61 tractor-mounted pumps, and 25 diesel engines, have been deployed, MCG said.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials, the Safdarjung base station recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall during the past 24 hours till 8.30 am Friday. From 2.30 am to 5.30 am, the Safdarjung station recorded 148.5 mm of rainfall.

Theheavy rain has led to water-logging across Delhi, leaving many residential colonies without power, and inundated roads, leading to traffic chaos.

In a post on X, the Traffic Police is saying: "Traffic is affected on Outer Ring Road in both carriageways from Shantivan towards ISBT and vice-versa due to waterlogging near Y-Point Saleemgarh and Nigambodh Ghat. Kindly plan your journey accordingly."

Traffic at ITO, Vir Banda Bairagi Marg, Dhaula Kuan were also affected due to waterlogging. Visuals from Gurgaon, Noida and Ghaziabad also showed indundated roads.

Samajwadi Party MP Ram Gopal Yadav was helped by members of his staff and others to reach his car as the area around his residence in Lodhi Road was completely inundated.

#WATCH | Delhi: SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav being helped by members of his staff and others to his car as the area around his residence is completely inundated.

Visuals from Lodhi Estate area. pic.twitter.com/ytWE7MGbfY

— ANI (@ANI) June 28, 2024