Delhi witnesses another spell overnight rains: Several flights delayed, diverted

New Delhi, May 24: Delhi-NCR witnessed another overnight spell of rain and thunderstorms after early morning showers on Monday. The rains have brought down the temperature by 11 degree Celsius and also caused air and road traffic disruptions.

The IMD (India Meteorological Department) said on Monday evening that there would be a fresh spell of rains in the national capital and also parts of Punjab, Haryana, north Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.

Delhi experienced gusty winds, touching 75 kilometres per hour. Trees were uprooted and public infrastructure was also damaged.

Flights were cancelled, delayed and diverted which led to chaos at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Over 100 flights were delayed and some were diverted to Jaipur, Mumbai and Amritsar.

In the morning hours, traffic congestion peaked. The same was the case in the evening on Monday too.

In Gurugram, over 2,500 police personnel were deployed to ease the chaos.

Waterlogging were also reported from several areas and eight vehicles parked on the roadside were damaged due to tree falling on them, officials said.

The weather department said this was the first moderate-intensity storm of this season for the national capital which has been reeling under unprecedented high temperatures for the past few weeks, crossing the 49-degree mark at one occasion.

Fire officials said eight people were injured in the incidents of house collapse reported from Jwalapuri, Gokalpuri, Shankar Road and Moti Nagar areas of the city. Weather department officials said the rain and thunderstorms caused a drastic fall in the minimum surface temperature Monday in Delhi which plummeted from 29 degrees Celsius to 18 degrees Celsius from 5.40 am to 7 am. The minimum temperature was recorded at 17.2 degrees Celsius, nine notches below the season's average while the maximum temperature was recorded at 31.5 degrees Celsius, eight notches below normal.