Heavy rainfall paralyses Delhi: Schools shut, 2 drown in Ghazipur

Delhi was thrown into chaos as heavy rainfall led to severe waterlogging and structural collapses, causing widespread disruption and raising serious safety concerns. The city witnessed significant waterlogging in several parts, with visuals emerging from outside the Civic Center near Ramlila Maidan showing streets submerged under water.
In South Delhi’s Chhatarpur area, streets turned into rivers with slippers floating on the water as vehicles navigated the floods. The Pragati Maidan tunnel witnessed chaos due to waterlogging, while major intersections like ITO, Dhaula Kuan, and roads leading to the airport were plagued by traffic snarls.
Rainwater even infiltrated the Press Club of India, where people were seen sitting in knee-deep water, as seen in a purported photo shared online.
The heavy downpour also caused the wall of a private school in Daryaganj to collapse, damaging nearby parked vehicles. In another incident, a house in the Sabzi Mandi area crumbled under the relentless rain.
“MCD had sent notices to these buildings and were asked to either evacuate or get them fixed. But the people do not listen. Such incidents happen here after heavy rainfall,” a resident from Sabzi Mandi said, expressing frustration over the repeated warnings that went unheeded.
A 22-year-old woman and her child drowned in a waterlogged drain in the Ghazipur area. According to police in Ghazipur, Tanuja and her three-year-old son Priyansh were out to buy household items from a weekly market when they slipped into a drain due to waterlogging and drowned. The incident occurred near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under construction.
Delhi minister Atishi announced on social media that all schools, both government and private, would remain closed on August 1 due to the forecast of continued heavy rainfall. Atishi said the Delhi government and the MCD were maintaining a close watch.
“There has been very heavy rainfall in Delhi in the last two hours. Delhi Govt and MCD are maintaining a close watch on low lying areas and vulnerable waterlogging locations, to ensure no untoward incident takes place,” she said in a post on ‘X’.
The Old Rajinder Nagar area, already reeling from the recent tragedy where three students died in a flooded basement of a coaching centre, again faced flooding following the heavy rain. Students and residents protested in thigh-high water, shouting slogans and criticising the administration’s failure to clean the drains.
“We had come out from our home for dinner and it suddenly started raining and within minutes the whole area got flooded with water,” a resident said.
“Even after five days (of the death of the UPSC aspirants), the administration and MCD are only using their complete force to suppress the protest and have done nothing to set the drains cleaned,” he alleged.
The BJP attacked the AAP saying it had not learnt any lesson from the tragedy even as AAP shared videos of its MLA from the area, Durgesh Pathak, assisting people on the ground and ensuring water was being pumped out.
The inclement weather severely affected air traffic, with at least 10 flights scheduled to land at Delhi airport being diverted—eight to Jaipur and two to Lucknow. Airlines also warned of the possibility of more flight disruptions.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena said he has asked officers to remain on alert.
“Apart from ensuring minimum inconvenience to people in general, they are advised to specifically address issues at sites prone to waterlogging, including coaching centres,” he said in the post on ‘X’.