Following one of the worst heatwaves in the city’s history earlier this month, New Delhi is currently seeing its greatest rainfall in decades, with 24-hour rainfall exceeding the city’s June average. The heavy rain resulted in a deadly roof collapse at the airport, cancelled flights, closed a metro station, obstructed underpasses and created severe traffic jams.
Delhi’s main Safdarjung weather station recorded 228.1 mm (9 inches) of rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8:30 a.m. (0300 GMT), its highest 24-hour rainfall in June in 88 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Areas around Delhi airport had 148.5 mm (5.85 inches) of rain over a three-hour period on Friday, compared with 101.7 mm (4 inches) for all of June last year.
Dreadful Delhi!
This summer, the city has seen temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius. According to IMD data, Delhi has had at least 40 days in a row with temperatures at or above 40 degrees Celsius through June 22. The country was briefly relieved of the sweltering conditions that had continued in Delhi till last week by the arrival of the seasonal monsoon rain, which gradually spread over the nation starting from its southern tip at the end of May.
An IMD official said the progress of the monsoon was stalled for a week, which led to lower rainfall and heatwaves in northern India, but sudden thunderstorms last week in the region pushed the monsoon clouds back on track. He said this would help the monsoon cover the entire country on time or even a few days ahead of the normal schedule.
Over the past forty years, Delhi has had unpredictable monsoon patterns that have resulted in both insufficient and excessive rainfall, according to Vishwas Chitale of the Indian think tank Council on Energy, Environment and Water. “Such skewed distribution of rainfall impacts infrastructure and people severely, which re-emphasises the importance of climate proofing infrastructure and the economy,” he stated.
Experts opine
For every degree increase in earth’s temperature, the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere can increase by about 7 per cent, according to a NASA article in 2022. Experts say that it can lead to heavy rains in a short period of time.
“Because of climate change, you will get more extreme rain events, which means more rain in a fewer number of rainy days, rainy hours,” Sunita Narain, director general of Indian research body Centre for Science and Environment, said in a video post on social media this week. “If you look at the data from across India, you will find that many weather stations are already reporting that they are breaking the record of 24-hour rainfall, which means that a city, a region, can get its annual rain, as much as a whole year’s rain, in a matter of a few days or even one day.”
According to experts, in order to store excessive rainfall and avoid catastrophic water shortages in densely populated cities like Bengaluru and Delhi, India has to dig more lakes and ponds. To prevent significant flooding and disturbances, municipalities must make sure that their drains and canals are clear of obstructions. Experts believe that the nation should also significantly expand its green space, educate the public about the negative effects of heat, stagger work hours and alter school day timings.
(with inputs from Reuters)