Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Tuesday, 30 September 2025
Rains coupled with the festive rush created a double whammy for Delhiites on Tuesday as they grappled with traffic snarls while heading to their destinations.
Commuters took to social media to report traffic jams near Tikona Park close to Jamia Millia Islamia and a 25-minute pile-up at the flyover near Radisson Hotel on NH-48 while heading from Delhi to Gurugram.
There was a heavy traffic jam in northwest Delhi while the areas around Netaji Subhash Place in Pitampura, along with a significant stretch of the Outer Ring Road witnessed slow movement of vehicles.
The downpour, however, brought some relief after a spell of sultry weather. Parts of south Delhi, including the busy Mahatma Gandhi Road, NH-48, and Captain Gaur Marg from Lajpat Nagar, also witnessed severe congestion. “Traffic was bumper-to-bumper on Mathura Road, Old Rohtak Road, parts of ITO, and the stretch from Mahatma Gandhi Road to GT Karnal Road,” a user wrote on social media.
At least five flights were diverted at the Delhi airport on Tuesday afternoon due to adverse weather conditions in the national capital, according to an official.
Airlines issued advisories that flight operations might be impacted.
The official said five flights that were to land at the Delhi airport were diverted to Jaipur between 12.15 pm to 12.30 pm.
"Persistent rainfall and thunderstorms are currently affecting #Delhi, leading to possible delays in flight operations. Our teams are closely monitoring the situation to ensure your journey resumes as soon as conditions improve," IndiGo said in a post on X at 12.49 pm.
Air India, in a post on X at 12.07 pm, said heavy rain may impact flight operations to and from Delhi today.
Due to bad weather in Delhi, all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may be affected, SpiceJet said in a post on X at 11.46 am.
In a post on X at 11.56 am, Delhi airport operator DIAL said Delhi is experiencing inclement weather conditions but all flight operations were normal.
The Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) in the national capital is the country's largest airport and handles around 1,300 flight movements daily.
The maximum temperature on Tuesday is expected to settle around 35 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was recorded at 28.7 degrees Celsius, 5.4 notches above normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Relative humidity stood at 74 per cent at 8.30 am.
According to the IMD, the city is likely to witness a generally cloudy sky with light rain or drizzle through the day.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an 'orange alert' for Delhi, upgrading it from yellow, warning of moderate to heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds reaching up to 40 kmph. Under the IMD’s colour-coded system, an orange warning places the city in “be prepared” mode.
Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 114 at 8 am, in the ‘moderate’ category, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The traffic police advised commuters to plan their journeys accordingly and avoid waterlogged stretches.
The rains arrived less than a week after the southwest monsoon officially withdrew from Delhi on September 24, a day earlier than its usual schedule. This marked the earliest withdrawal from the capital since 2002, when it retreated on September 20.
In 2024, the withdrawal had taken place on October 2.
The rain brought relief from the muggy conditions prevailing over the last few days but worsened the woes for commuters who grappled with slow-moving traffic to reach their destinations.
The IMD explained that the rainfall was driven by a well-marked low-pressure area lying over the Gulf of Kutch. One trough from this system extends eastwards to southeast Uttar Pradesh, while another runs northwards towards northwest Rajasthan in the lower tropospheric levels.
Together, these troughs are acting as atmospheric highways, pulling in moisture from both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, said an official.
The collision of these moist currents over north India set the stage for widespread rain, including the sudden downpour in Delhi.
