The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for parts of the Delhi-NCR region on Tuesday, warning of heavy rain through the day and into the night.
In response, Delhi’s IGI Airport, operated by Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL), issued a passenger advisory stating that flight operations remain normal despite the adverse weather conditions expected around the capital.
The airport advised travellers to check their latest flight status directly with their respective airlines before leaving for the airport, given the fast-changing weather.
Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo also issued separate advisories to passengers, urging them to stay updated on their flight timings amid the red alert conditions.
The IMD’s forecast for the day pointed to cloudy skies with intermittent spells of light to moderate rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds across Delhi, Noida, Gurugram and Ghaziabad, with another spell of rain expected later in the evening or at night.
The department has additionally placed Delhi-NCR under an orange alert for the following 48 hours, indicating that intermittent showers are likely to continue even after Tuesday’s red alert conditions taper off.
The alert comes a day after the IMD issued a similar red warning for eastern Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Maharashtra, flagging extremely heavy rainfall and a heightened risk of flash floods there, part of an active spell of monsoon activity moving across northern and western India this week.
Similar red alerts had also been issued earlier in the week for the hill states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir, underlining how widespread this monsoon spell has been.
Alongside the flight advisories, authorities also warned that the heavy rain could lead to traffic congestion and waterlogging in several low-lying areas of the city.
Commuters have been advised to check road conditions before travelling and to avoid flooded stretches during periods of intense rainfall, even as airport officials maintain that flight schedules have not been affected so far, and passengers have been asked to keep contingency time in their travel plans given the unsettled conditions forecast for the rest of the week.
(Image: Biswarup Ganguly (CC BY 3.0))
