Six persons died in Delhi in the 24-hour period ending at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, during which the city received over 100 mm of rainfall.
Three of the victims died from electrocution, two drowned in a drain, and one person lost his life in a house collapse.
2,945 traffic jam calls
The Delhi police said their control rooms received 2,945 calls related to traffic jams, 127 related to waterlogging, 27 regarding building collapse, and 50 about trees falling during the 24-hour period.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the city’s primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded a rainfall of 107 mm.
The weather station at Pusa Road near Old Rajinder Nagar, where three students drowned in a coaching centre’s basement on July 27, received 86 mm of rainfall, causing waterlogging outside the institute again. The IMD termed the rain spell “extremely intense”. It has issued an alert for Friday, when the Capital is expected to receive light to moderate rain.
‘Ill-equipped’
A 23-year-old woman, Tanuja Bisht, and her three-year-old son, Priyansh, drowned after falling in an open drain near a waterlogged road in Ghazipur’s Khoda Colony around 8 p.m. on Wednesday. The two were returning home from a visit to the weekly market.
Bisht’s uncle Harish Rawat said the police team that reached the spot was ill-equipped to rescue the two and that it was their family, not the police, which rushed the mother and son to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.
The police have lodged an FIR under 106 (1) (death due to negligence) of the BNS.
In the second incident, a 12-year-old boy got electrocuted while returning home from his tuition in Dwarka’s Bindapur area. A senior officer said the boy ventured into a waterlogged road near his residence after waiting a long time for the rain to stop. He died after coming in contact with live wires hanging from a wall near his residence. Subsequently, he was taken to Indira Gandhi Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The area discom, BSES, said its team had shut off power in the area following the rain and that no electrical leakage was found at the premises.
Another case of death from electrocution was reported from south-east Delhi’s Jaitpur, where Prabhat, 28, died on the terrace of his house. DCP (South East) Rajesh Deo said Prabhat went to his terrace while it was raining and suffered an electric shock due to current leaking from his water tank alarm system.
In the third such case, Anil, 18, suffered a fatal shock near his accommodation in south Delhi’s Sangam Vihar. DCP (South) Ankit Chauhan said Anil, who worked as a rag-picker, had gone out to buy vegetables when he collapsed near his house.
A fatality was also reported from north Delhi’s Sabzi Mandi, where Anil Gupta died from injuries sustained after the roof of his house collapsed.
