Water had entered the security kiosk outside the sprawling bungalow
Fallen branches of trees, barricades, a car, and a Scooty submerged in water, and a man cycling through a bylane in near knee-deep water. This was the scene outside AAP Minister Atishi's home in the posh Lutyens area after the national capital logged record rain in 88 years.
One of the minister's staff was seen sweeping water off the property and draining it onto the already-inundated road in the high-security area. Water had entered the security kiosk outside the sprawling bungalow.
The prestigious Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia is just two houses down from Atishi's in the same lane. Members include over 500 journalists and photographers working in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Afghanistan, and Tibet, diplomats, lawyers, and others.
Atishi and her Delhi cabinet colleague Saurabh Bharadwaj addressed the media this afternoon, apprising the work undertaken by the AAP government to drain the waterlogged areas of the city.
"We conducted an emergency meeting regarding the waterlogging issue due to the heavy rainfall. It was chaired by four ministers of the Delhi government... It was attended by all the senior officials of the Delhi government. We made several important decisions for the upcoming days..." Atishi said, adding that all departments are working together and pulling in manpower and resources to mitigate the situation.
"The Traffic Police and area representatives have been told to identify the vulnerable areas for waterlogging and make a list. The Chief Secretaries have been told to review the list of all the departments... There are a lot of areas that witness waterlogging due to inter-departmental issues... It will be constantly monitored..." Saurabh Bharadwaj assured.
Delhi received nearly 230 mm of rainfall between 8:30 am on Thursday and 8:30 am today, marking the highest 24-hour rainfall in the city in June since 1936.
The torrential downpour brought life to a standstill in several parts of the city. Visuals showed inundated roads, long meandering traffic in most areas of the city, submerged vehicles, and people wading through the flooded roads.
A portion of the roof of the departure complex of Delhi Airport's Terminal 1 collapsed in the early morning, killing one and injuring six others.
All departures from Terminal 1, which only operates domestic flights, have been suspended till midnight, the civil aviation ministry said.
The monsoon is set to arrive in Delhi by the end of this week, the IMD said.
Last year, monsoon hit Delhi on June 26.