Knee-deep water, streets flooded, uprooted trees: Heavy rain batters Delhi under IMD red alert

Delhi woke up on Thursday to flooded streets, uprooted trees and a building collapse that killed three people. Heavy overnight rain left large parts of the capital submerged, and the India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert warning of more downpours, thunderstorms and lightning through the day.

The worst tragedy unfolded in Rohini, where a four-storey building under construction came down amid the relentless rain, claiming three lives.

How much rain fell

Delhi's base weather station at Safdarjung recorded 72.6 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Thursday. Lodhi Road received 80.2 mm, Ridge 77.8 mm, Palam 63 mm and Ayanagar 57.4 mm during the same period.

Where the city went under

Waterlogging was reported across wide stretches of the capital, including Sadar Bazar, Greater Kailash, Badarpur, Nasirpur, Teliwara, Mahavir Bazar, Swarup Nagar, Kushak Road, Munirka, Dwarka, Vikas Marg, East Delhi and the area around New Delhi Railway Station. Videos and images from across the city showed cars crawling through submerged roads and commuters wading through knee-deep water.

Traffic ground to a halt

Several major roads saw severe congestion through the morning rush. Ring Road, Outer Ring Road, the Delhi-Noida Expressway and National Highway-48 near Dhaula Kuan, Mahipalpur and Rajokri were among the worst affected, with reduced visibility and standing water compounding the delays.

Two trees were uprooted in East of Kailash, one near the ISKCON temple and another outside the National Heart Institute, briefly blocking roads before teams moved in to clear them. No injuries were reported in either case.

Delhi's civic agencies fielded multiple complaints related to waterlogging, fallen trees and power disruptions, with emergency teams deployed across the city to restore normalcy.

Gurugram also hit

The impact stretched into neighbouring Gurugram, where flooded roads left vehicles stranded and triggered massive congestion on the Delhi-Jaipur Highway near Narsinghpur, Basai, Umang Bhardwaj Chowk, Kadipur, Sector 10A and Sohna Road.

What's behind the downpour

The IMD attributed the widespread rain over the past two days to the seasonal monsoon trough shifting northward toward the Himalayan foothills. Weather officials said Delhi is likely to continue seeing widespread rainfall until the system moves further north.