IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) issued a red alert warning for the capital city of Delhi, which is the highest level of warning issued by them, on Friday, September 4, 2026, with predictions of heavy rainfall, storms, thunder, and winds throughout the day in the capital city. In fact, the warning proved true. Heavy rains lashed Delhi and NCR region in the afternoon. Roads got flooded due to the rains.
This made it difficult for transportation. Flooding occurred in the areas prone to it.
The most noticeable one is the area near IGI Airport. Up to nine flights were diverted to other locations in one hour.
Major airlines have communicated the delay in their flights to passengers.
This came at a time of a Hindu festival, known as Janmashtami.
In fact, people celebrate this festival by organizing outdoor parties. But due to the poor weather condition, they could not do so. This story is important not only because of the situation which occurred on a certain afternoon but because it once again becomes evident that Delhi Airport has faced this issue for several years.
Friday dawned without any hint of what was about to happen. As per the IMD three-hourly rainfall information, the Palam weather observatory, near the airport, registered a small amount of 3.4 mm of rainfall between 11:30 am and 2:30 pm, while Najafgarh received only 0.5 mm of rainfall during the previous few hours.
The conditions took an abrupt turn in the afternoon.
Clouds gathered dark over the capital city.
A short-range forecast made by IMD at 2:15 pm mentioned that there would be light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstorms and lightning across several areas of Delhi between 2:15 pm and 4:15 pm. Further heavy rainfall was predicted in isolated places.
Another spell was expected in the evening period from 5 pm to 8 pm.
The red alert too had certain warnings attached to it—intense rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning, and strong wind blowing up to 40–50 kmph, gusting up to 60 kmph.
The Noida and Ghaziabad regions in Uttar Pradesh, adjacent to Delhi, came under orange warning, and Gurugram had no official weather warning, according to media reports.
The first images to come out of the day were those of IGI Airport. The videos that circulated in social media, which were even picked up by several news agencies, showed the forecourt in front of Terminal 3 of the airport that is the busiest of its kind in the entire airport, which is filled with rainwater, with passengers as well as airport staff walking through the flooded roads and walkways while carrying their luggage.
The airport authorities reported that more people have been hired for pumping and draining off the water.
The most tangible measure of the disruption was seen in the diverted flights. Nine flights scheduled to land in Delhi were instead diverted to four flights each to Jaipur and Lucknow, and one to Ahmedabad.
All of this was witnessed within one hour between 3:30 pm and 4:30 pm, and it is a reflection of the sudden changes in the scenario with the onset of the heavier rains that were forecast by the IMD in its 2:15 pm forecast.
In order to limit the effect of the weather conditions on the people who will be traveling, the airlines have provided advisory messages concerning the arrangements for travel.IndiGo has issued a travel advisory to its passengers, cautioning them about ensuring that they have sufficient time for traveling due to heavy rains, waterlogging, and traffic congestion en route to the airport.
The rain that occurred on Friday was part of Janmashtami celebrations, which are usually celebrated in honor of the birthday of Lord Krishna through various outdoor activities like processions and nighttime celebrations in the city.
However, the rain that suddenly started pouring down took everyone by surprise. Celebrators had no option but to give up their plans midway and look for any shelter to seek refuge from the rain.
The pictures from the flooded airport forecourt on Friday have been quite shocking, but for Delhi, they have not been new. Over the past few years, waterlogging at Delhi Airport forecourt has become a monsoon routine in the capital city. On September 26, 2021, when rainfall touched 1,136.6 mm – the highest in 46 years – the forecourt got flooded. Consequently, three flights had to be cancelled and five flights were diverted from the airport.
Since the problem had been recurring, efforts were made towards a permanent solution.
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), in collaboration with Indian Railways and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), started building a separate drainage system close to the airport, which was a 2.5 km long, 20 m wide, and 2 m deep drain designed to direct the rainwater away from the airport to the Najafgarh drain. As per reports of the Delhi Lieutenant Governor's office in 2023, the project had been on hold since 2019 due to permissions related to relocating the trees, with the target being July of the same year. At that time, the authorities stated that the airport had two drains, which had "proved insufficient" to discharge the rainwater, a deficiency that had resulted not only in airport disruptions but also in flooding in the surrounding Dwarka sectors.
It is debatable whether the above-mentioned drainage system has succeeded in closing the gap. The fact that there was flooding on Friday implies, at least, that the forecourt area near Terminal 3 is still susceptible to the sudden downpour of rain.
Images of the travelers struggling through the flooded terminals soon went viral as people wondered about the capability of a well-known international airport to get flooded even after receiving an afternoon of rainfall.
In the past, whenever there were any cases of water logging at the airport, they were also criticized politically since politicians used these incidents to cast doubts on the city's infrastructure and drainage plans.
IMD’s forecast implied that while the danger was likely to reduce, it wouldn’t disappear immediately. The weather forecasts indicated that there would be rain and thunderstorms in the days to come up to Friday evening and even into Saturday, and more instances of isolated heavy rains might occur. According to reports that came after, there was no heavy rain warning by the IMD in the Delhi subdivision starting September 6, even though there were chances of light rains or drizzles in some areas.
