4 dead as rains, storm sweep Delhi

The weather change led to a relief from the sizzling heat during the day with temperatures dipping to 40.8°C from Friday’s 42.3°C

New Delhi: Sudden storm and rains that swept the city on Saturday led to loss of life and property, as at least four men were killed in two separate incidents of wall collapses, while uprooted trees at many areas damaged cars and gusty winds damaged a portion of the tin roof at a newly constructed RRTS station, officials said.

Tin roof of the New Ashok Nagar RRTS Station gets damaged amid strong winds and rain, in New Delhi on Saturday. (Salman Ali/HT Photo)

In central Delhi’s Paharganj, at least three men died and one sustained injuries when the wall of an under-construction basement collapsed. Police said rescue operations were carried out at the site. The deceased included a contractor, Prabhu Kumar, 65, and labourers, Niranjan Kumar, 40, and Roshan Kumar, 35.

DCP (central) Harsha Vardhan said another labourer Chuttan Kumar, 35, was injured and was undergoing treatment.

Police were informed about the collapse on Arakshan Road at 6.20pm. “Preliminary probe revealed that the contractor and labourers were in the basement when the storm hit. Construction of a hotel was underway. One of the side walls collapsed during the rain and the three got trapped inside,” an officer said. Delhi Fire Services director Atul Garg said four fire tenders were pressed into service to rescue the three.

Another man was killed and his partner injured in Prahladpur area of Shahbad Dairy when a wall collapsed during welding work. The deceased was identified as Ashok Kumar, 35, and the injured as Sumit Kumar, police said.

Meanwhile, New Delhi Municipal Council teams were deployed to remove uprooted trees in various areas under its jurisdiction, including Connaught Place. No injuries were reported in the incidents.

According to IMD data, wind speed at base station Safdarjung was 46kmph at around 3.30pm, and 74 kmph at Palam around 3pm. At other places, it remained anywhere between 20-50 kmph.

Between 2.30pm and 5.30pm, weather stations at SPS Mayur Vihar received 12.5mm of rain, Delhi University recorded 7.5mm of rain, Ridge recorded 7.8mm of rain and Palam received 1.2mm of rain.

Safdarjung did not receive any rain in the later hours of the day but recorded 1.4mm of rain in the 24 hours till 8.30am on Saturday. During this period, Ayanagar station recorded 7.2mm of rain, Ridge 3.2 mm and Pusa recorded 2.5mm.

The weather change led to a relief from the sizzling heat during the day with temperatures dipping to 40.8°C from Friday’s 42.3°C — the season’s highest temperature so far.

The minimum, too, dipped below normal. It was 24.3°C as compared to 26.2°C recorded a day before.

The India Meteorological Department, which had a yellow alert in place for Saturday, has forecast similar weather conditions in the coming days.

“Partly cloudy skies persisted throughout the day on Saturday. Strong gusty winds were observed in several parts of Delhi, along with very light to light rain,” said a Met official.

RRTS stn roof damaged

A portion of the tin roof at the New Ashok Nagar NamoBharat Station sustained damage due to “intense windstorm”, a National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) official said, leading to halting of operations. No injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, NDMC received at least 19 complaints about tree falling in areas such as Connaught Place, Ashoka Road and Janpath. Teams were deployed to remove the trees, it said.

Similar conditions to persist: IMD

According to IMD, Sunday might witness some thunderstorm towards the afternoon or evening, along with sustained surface winds of speed 15-25 kmph, occasionally gusting to 35kmph.

“There is a possibility of very light to light rain from Monday again. This might also be accompanied by thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of speed 30-40 kmph, even temporarily reaching 50 kmph during the thunderstorm. Similar weather conditions might persist till Friday,” the Met official cited above added.

Meanwhile, the air quality improved significantly and returned to the ‘moderate’ category. The AQI was 169 at 11am, 155 at 5pm and 153 at 7pm. The 24-hour average AQI was not available. The AQI was 278 (poor) on Friday.

On impact on air operations, a Delhi airport official said no flights were cancelled or diverted due to the weather conditions. According to data from Flightradar24, a flight tracking website, however, at least 300 flights were delayed.