Delhi rains: Heavy showers hit road traffic in national capital; flight operations suspended for 26 minutes

A spell of heavy rains lashed Delhi on Thursday evening, affecting operations at the Indira Gandhi International Airport for nearly half an hour and causing traffic jams across the national capital. Flight operations at Delhi airport were suspended for 26 minutes due to extremely heavy rains accompanied by strong winds in the city, senior airport officials said. Four flights were also diverted from the airport due to the downpour. [caption id=“attachment_7448331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rains in Delhi on Thursday. ANI[/caption] Airlines such as Vistara and SpiceJet warned their passengers on Twitter that due to the bad weather in Delhi, their flights might get affected. Videos from the airport showed water leaking from the roof at the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1. Stranded passengers can be seen at the airport. Passengers have also been advised to leave for the airport “well in advance” in the wake of the rains by airlines like Air India and IndiGo. “Due to heavy downpour and resultant waterlogging in some parts of Delhi-NCR, passengers are advised to leave for the airport well in advance allowing enough travel time,” Air India tweeted. As per the IMD, the rains that the city experienced are monsoon rains. There are no signs of the withdrawal of monsoons yet either. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to be 36.0 degrees Celsius and 23.0 degrees Celsius, respectively. Light rains or drizzles are expected to occur on Friday as well, the IMD said. States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have been battered by a burst of rainfall towards the end of the four-month-long monsoon season, which officially ended on Monday. The heavy rainfall has led to several rivers, including the Ganga, flowing above or near the danger mark at several places. With inputs from agencies