A barrage of sudden, violent storms has turned Delhi’s summer season right into a season of chaos. In a metropolis accustomed to sweltering warmth this time of yr, winds howling at speeds of as much as 80 km/hr have as an alternative ushered in destruction. Bushes have been ripped from the earth, tin sheets flung like shrapnel, and roads flooded in minutes. The skies open for barely half an hour, but the Capital buckles — flights are grounded, houses collapse, and other people die.
A mango tree uprooted by the storm in Nazamuddin East in New Delhi on Thursday. (Sonu Mehta/HT Photograph)
The southwest monsoon continues to be weeks away. However in simply three weeks of Could, 12 individuals have died in rain-linked incidents, many crushed below partitions or electrocuted by falling wires.
The town, in the meantime, stays dangerously unprepared. Drains are nonetheless clogged, tree roots strangled by concrete, and the so-called fast response groups (QRTs) — introduced with a lot fanfare by the brand new Delhi authorities — are nowhere to be seen.
On Could 2, Delhi was battered by 77 mm of rainfall in a single day — the second-highest Could rainfall ever recorded. The injury was swift and unforgiving. A lady and her three younger youngsters had been buried alive when their home collapsed in Dwarka. In Inexperienced Park, a 25-year-old building employee died of electrocution. That day alone noticed 5 deaths.
Two weeks later, on Could 17, a contemporary wave of robust winds and temporary however intense showers left 4 extra individuals lifeless — three crushed when an under-construction home caved in at Paharganj, and one other in Prahladpur, killed by a collapsing wall.
Then on Could 21, a sudden storm greeted town with fury. Wind speeds hit 80 km/hr. Hail lashed down in elements of town. Three extra individuals had been killed — a nine-year-old woman in Dayalpur struck by a falling steel windowpane, a 22-year-old man crushed below a tree in Gokalpuri, and a 49-year-old homeless man electrocuted by a toppled pole in Lodhi Colony.
Depend the primary storm on April 11, and Delhi has already recorded 15 rain-related deaths this season — a grim echo of the 50 lives misplaced in final yr’s monsoon. Little, it appears, has modified.
Bushes, injury and deaths
Every time the wind rises, timber are the primary to fall — blocking roads, crushing automobiles, and typically taking lives. On Could 21, a minimum of 54 fallen tree complaints had been reported throughout the Municipal Company of Delhi’s (MCD) jurisdiction and 21 extra throughout the NDMC space. Many crashed onto automobiles, requiring lengthy hours of elimination.
A senior DFS officer stated they’ve attended greater than 212 calls since Wednesday night.
Most of those concerned uprooted timber, collapsed constructions, and broken automobiles. “We can handle 200 calls per storm, but the traffic, weather, and fatigue make it extremely challenging,” the officer stated, including that such emergencies demand tight coordination between the police, MCD, and fireplace companies.
However regardless of the launch of QRTs by chief minister Rekha Gupta in April — one group for every of Delhi’s 11 districts — their influence stays invisible. No official knowledge has been launched on their actions or effectiveness.
Specialists stated whereas QRTs and tree ambulances could be utilised, fundamental measures reminiscent of deconcretising timber was not being adhered by any company.
“The National Green Tribunal in 2013 ordered that all trees be deconcretised within a one-meter radius. Agencies are not complying,” stated environmental activist Bhavreen Kandhari. “Most trees that fall have had their root systems weakened by concrete. Even in the May 17 storm, when winds were just 40-50 km/hr, we saw widespread tree falls.”
Desilting targets off
The Public Works Division (PWD) had set a deadline of Could 31 to finish desilting alongside 1,400 km of roads, however officers say solely about 25% of the work is finished, and the company is all however set to overlook its personal goal.
On Could 5, HT had flagged that MCD’s annual desilting train is even not on time much more. As of early Could, MCD had cleared solely 21.32% of the silt from 800 massive drains. That determine hasn’t seen a significant replace since. There’s additionally been no phrase on the annual “dangerous buildings” survey, often carried out earlier than monsoon to establish constructions liable to collapse.
An MCD official nonetheless stated that the work is being carried out at “expedited pace” and the desilting will probably be accomplished earlier than monsoon.
However until it’s accomplished urgently, massive elements of Delhi — particularly underpasses and low-lying neighbourhoods — will probably be swamped on the first main downpour.
PWD and Irrigation & Flood Management Division (I&FCD) have been instructed to collectively examine drains and coordinate water stream. However in response to a Could 21 PWD order, these inspections had not but begun.
Delhi’s drainage system is an overlapping net of obligations. PWD manages 2,026 km of drains alongside 1,400 km of roads. These connect with bigger drains below I&FCD, which finally stream into the Yamuna.
In 2023, 308 waterlogging hotspots had been recognized in Delhi by PWD. In 2025, that quantity has risen to 445, in response to Delhi Site visitors Police. Of those, 335 fall below PWD’s purview.
MCD, in the meantime, manages 12,892 smaller drains (below 4 ft vast), stretching over 6,070 km. It had focused elimination of 40,086 metric tonnes (MT) of silt from these drains — however has solely managed 9,474.8 MT up to now, or about 24%. The 800 bigger drains below MCD complete 530 km, however the progress there too stays incomplete.
Regardless of repeated directives from the Delhi authorities urging departments to work in tandem to keep away from flooding, progress on the bottom stays sluggish.
Advisory to aide residents
On Thursday, MCD officers issued an advisory to resident welfare associations (RWAs) forward of extra anticipated thunderstorms. RWAs had been requested to warn residents in opposition to standing close to timber or electrical poles throughout storms, and to safe free balcony objects like flowerpots and tin sheets that would flip into harmful projectiles. With winds repeatedly hitting 70-80 km/hr this month, the advisory additionally urged individuals to not park automobiles below timber or unstable constructions and to maintain emergency provides like torches and first-aid kits prepared.
However until Delhi will get severe about its pre-monsoon preparation — deconcretising timber, desilting drains, coordinating departments — its streets will maintain turning into hazard zones. And with the true monsoon but to reach, worse might nonetheless lie forward.