The death toll from the recent heavy rainfall in New Delhi has risen to 11, including four individuals who perished in flooded underpasses, as reported by the Times of India. Flight operations in the Indian capital were also affected.
New Delhi, which experienced one of its most severe heatwaves earlier this month, encountered its heaviest rainfall in decades on June 28. The single-day rainfall exceeded the city's monthly average. The heavy downpour resulted in a fatal roof collapse at one of the three terminals of Delhi's main airport, causing flight disruptions, flooding underpasses, and leading to extensive traffic congestion, power outages, and water supply issues in parts of the city.
Nearly 60 flights were cancelled from New Delhi's main airport in the past 24 hours, according to Flightaware, a flight tracking platform. Operations were mostly back to normal on Sunday, with most flights from the affected terminal rerouted to the other two terminals, according to an airport official. However, they did not exclude the possibility of further flight cancellations throughout the day.
The Delhi airport is one of India's largest and busiest. Terminal 1, which is now closed, is primarily used by low-cost carriers IndiGo, operated by Interglobe Aviation, and SpiceJet, and has a capacity to handle 40 million passengers annually. Neither an IndiGo spokesperson nor a SpiceJet spokesperson provided comments on the flight cancellations.
