Delhi airport flooded as National Capital records heaviest rainfall in 46 years

The forecourt of the Delhi airport was water-logged for a “short period” on Saturday morning due to sudden heavy rains, its operator Delhi International Airport Limited said. As per reports, the Safdarjung observatory has now recorded a total of 1,100 mm of rainfall this monsoon season in the National Capital. Breaking the record of a seasonal rainfall of 2003 when 1050 mm rainfall was recorded, this is now the highest record of rainfall in the city in the last 46 years — after 1975, when the season had a total of 1150 mm rainfall. Sources said five flights were diverted from the airport in the morning due to the bad weather conditions.

#WATCH | Parts of Delhi Airport waterlogged following heavy rainfall in the national capital; visuals from Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal 3) pic.twitter.com/DIfUn8tMei

— ANI (@ANI) September 11, 2021

The Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) said on Twitter that “due to sudden heavy rain, for a short period, there was waterlogging at the forecourt”. “Our team was immediately aligned to look into it and the issue has been resolved,” it added. An official of the meteorological department said the national capital received 97 mm rainfall since Friday morning . A highly unusual monsoon season this year has yielded 1,100 mm of rainfall in Delhi so far, the highest in 46 years, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Saturday. The figures are subject to change as more rainfall is predicted in the city during the day. “The Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, had gauged 1,150 mm of rainfall in the 1975 monsoon season. This year, the precipitation has already hit the 1,100-mm mark and the season has not ended yet,” an IMD official said. Normally, Delhi records 648.9 mm of rainfall during the monsoon season, according to the IMD. Between 1 June, when the monsoon season starts, and 11 September, the city normally gets 590.2 mm of rainfall. The monsoon withdraws from Delhi by 25 September. In 2003, the national capital had received 1,050 mm of rainfall. Delhi gauged 636 mm, 544 mm, 876 mm, 370.8 mm and 505.5 mm during the monsoon season in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. It recorded 524.7 mm rainfall in 2016; 641.3 mm in 2017; 762.6 mm in 2018; 404.3 mm in 2019 and 576.5 mm in 2020, according to IMD data. It has been a bountiful September for Delhi, with 343.6 mm of rainfall recorded so far this month, which is the highest in at least 12 years, according to data available on the IMD’s website. The September rainfall this year has been in marked contrast to the last year, when the city got a meagre 20.9 mm precipitation in the month against the normal of 129.8 mm. Inputs from agencies