Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday recounted how Delhi’s incessant rain flooded his Lutyens’ home under a foot of water and nearly prevented him from attending the Parliament session earlier in the day.
Delhiites woke up to a rain-devastated city on Friday. Many parts of the city were flooded, with water entering homes and submerging vehicles, causing kilometers-long traffic jams. Heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and lightning have affected several areas of Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram since Thursday.
Follow- Delhi-NCR rain LIVE Updates
Sharing a video of waterlogging outside his residence, Tharoor narrated that he woke up to find his home in Lutyens’ Delhi flooded, with every room under a foot of water. “Carpets and furniture, indeed anything on the ground, ruined. Apparently, the storm water drains in the neighborhood are all clogged, so the water had no place to go,” he said.
Shashi Tharoor home floode. Here’s video
Risked my presence in Lok Sabha: Tharoor
Tharoor, who entered the 18th Lok Sabha by defeating the then Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, joked that he thought he would need a boat to reach Parliament. However, the authorities managed to pump water out of the roads, allowing him to arrive on time.
“(I) warned my Parliament colleagues that I might not make it there without a boat. But the city managed to pump water out of the roads, and I did arrive in time!” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
Proceedings in both Houses—Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha—resumed on Friday to discuss the Motion of Thanks for the President’s address. The houses saw ruckus as the Opposition demanded a discussion on the ‘NEET issue’ and irregularities in exams conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).
ALSO READ- Delhi rains: Wall collapses in Vasant Vihar, construction workers feared trapped
Why Delhi floods after just first rain?
Union environment minister Bhupender Yadav blamed the waterlogging to clogged drains filled with plastic waste and criticised the Delhi government for inaction “despite multiple reminders”.
ALSO READ- Heavy rain in Delhi causes disruption at Yashoboomi Metro station, affects Shuttle service to IGI Terminal 1
Delhi weather forecast
The Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi’s main weather station, recorded 228.1 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the highest for June in at least 16 years. The Indian Meteorological Department forecasts cloudy skies and varying intensities of rain with gusty winds for the next seven days.