Delhi Weather: Heavy rains disrupt normal life; authorities order school closure, issue flood warning

Delhi Rains: Torrential rains pounded several parts of north India on Sunday including the national capital. Incessant showers have adversely affected states like Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand. In view of the IMD alerts for Delhi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered the closure of schools in the national capital on Monday. Heavy rainfall and other rain-related incidents in several parts of the country have claimed 19 lives. Several rivers were in spate and in various cities and towns, many roads and residential areas were submerged in knee-deep water.

Schools to remain closed on July 10

With heavy rains battering the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday (July 09) ordered the closure of schools in Delhi on Monday (July 10). The decision in the backdrop of heavy showers that are lashing parts of Delhi-NCR for the last two days. Taking to Twitter, CM Kejriwal announced that schools will remain closed on July 10. "In view of the torrential rains lashing Delhi for the last 2 days and warnings from the Meteorological Department, all schools in Delhi will remain closed tomorrow," AAP supremo and Delhi CM tweeted in Hindi. 

Atishi orders immediate physical inspection of govt schools

A portion of a Delhi government school collapsed following heavy rain on Sunday. Taking cognisance of the incident, Delhi Education Minister Atishi ordered an immediate physical inspection of all government schools. 

"As we are aware, the city has experienced continuous heavy rainfall in the past few days, which may have affected the conditions of government school buildings. It is directed that all regional directors, deputy directors of education - zones and districts, principals, and vice-principals must conduct physical inspections of all government schools under their jurisdiction today itself. The aim is to ensure that there are no deficiencies that could jeopardize the security of the school children when the schools open tomorrow," read the order issued by Atishi.

Delhi traffic police deploy 3,540 personnel to tackle rainfall chaos

Moreover, in order to tackle rainfall chaos, around 3,400 police personnel were deployed on Sunday at 50 locations in the city. Due to incessant, waterlogging at several places in the national capital was witnessed which resulted in traffic snarls. According to officials, the Traffic Control room received numerous complaints regarding congestion, uprooting of trees, potholes and signals not working, according to officials.

Considering the torrential rains since 07.07.2023 and the Orange Alert issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for 10.07.2023, the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court on request of DHCBA has agreed that no adverse orders shall be passed in case the lawyers are unable to present themselves before Courts on 10.07.2023. 

Kejriwal cancelled Sunday leave of government officials

Earlier this morning, he cancelled the Sunday leave of all government officials and instructed them to be on the field. He also informed that Delhi Cabinet ministers along with Mayor Shelly Oberoi will be inspecting the "problem areas" in the city. In a tweet in Hindi, Kejriwal said, "Yesterday, Delhi received 126 mm of rainfall. Fifteen per cent of the total rainfall that Delhi gets every monsoon was received in just 12 hours. People were severely affected due to waterlogging. Today, all the ministers of Delhi and the mayor will carry out an inspection of the problem areas. Directions have been issued to all officers to be on the ground and their Sunday off has been cancelled," he said.

Delhi has seen 30 pc improvement in air quality

Meanwhile, the national capital has witnessed a 30 per cent improvement in its air quality, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Sunday. "Air pollution in Delhi has reduced by 30 per cent while it has steadily increased in the rest of the country," the minister said at the launch of the annual sapling plantation drive from the campus of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute here.

Flood warning in Delhi

The Delhi government has also issued a flood warning as Haryana released more than one lakh cusecs of water into the Yamuna river from the Hathnikund barrage. The irrigation and flood control department said this was the first warning, with 1,05,453 cusecs of water discharged at 4 pm.

Delhi recorded its highest rainfall in 41 years

Delhi recorded its highest rainfall in 41 years after the capital city received 153 mm of rain in 24 hours ending at 8:30 on Sunday. This is the highest rainfall in a single day in July since 1982, the India Meteorological Department said. “The Safdarjung Observatory, the city's primary weather station, recorded 153 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, the highest since the 24-hour rainfall of 169.9 mm on July 25, 1982,” a senior IMD official said. The city recorded 133.4 mm of rain on July 10, 2003, and an all-time high of 266.2 mm on July 21, 1958.

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