Why a Few Hours of Heavy Rains in Delhi Became an ‘Extreme Weather Event’
The rain broke an 88-year-old record, becoming the second highest June rainfall ever recorded.
By: GARIMA SADHWANI
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On the intervening night of 27 and 28 June, the national capital of Delhi received 228.1 mm of rainfall – recorded until 8:30 am on Friday.
The rain broke an 88-year-old record, becoming the second-highest June rainfall ever recorded at the Safdarjung Observatory of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Though lasting only a few hours, the rain resulted in the loss of at least eight lives, including a cab driver who died outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 1 after a roof collapsed, and three labourers who got trapped under a wall at a construction site in Vasant Vihar. Many others were reportedly injured.
The Delhi rain also led to economic losses for many as roads were waterlogged, trees were uprooted from the ground, and multiple personal and public properties were damaged.
While chatter about the need to build climate-resilient infrastructure to protect our cities from ‘extreme weather events’ took over social media on Friday, The Quint reached out to experts to understand how a spell of rainfall that only lasted a couple of hours became an ‘extreme weather event’. Read the full story.
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