Delhi: Two of three who died during heavy rain identified

New Delhi: Of the three men whose lives were claimed by Monday’s heavy rains, thunderstorm, and waterlogging, police have identified two of them and got the autopsy conducted on their bodies, the third man who drowned in the waterlogged Pul Prahladpur railway underpass remained unidentified till late Tuesday

New Delhi: Of the three men whose lives were claimed by Monday’s heavy rains, thunderstorm, and waterlogging, police have identified two of them and got the autopsy conducted on their bodies, the third man who drowned in the waterlogged Pul Prahladpur railway underpass remained unidentified till late Tuesday.

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While the body of 50-year-old Kailash Chand, who died after the concrete portion of a balcony of an old building adjacent to his ground floor house in Gali Guliyan near the Jama Masjid fell on his during Monday’s thunderstorm and rains, was handed over to his family members, the body of 65-year-old homeless man, Basir Baba, was claimed by one Aslam for whom he worked as a helper, the police said.

On Tuesday, the family members of Chand blamed the owner of the second floor of the building for his death by alleging that despite their repeated requests in the last seven-eight months to repair the balcony that was in dilapidated condition, the owner paid no heed to it. They said that the owner (whose actual name they did not know) was last reminded about the repair of the balcony around a fortnight, when the wall of another building in the neighbourhood had collapsed and fell in the narrow lane. Two passersby had a close shave as the debris fell seconds after they crossed the building, said Chand’s family members.

“The building number 1263 is occupied by many people who run their businesses from there. The portion of the second floor of which the balcony collapsed is in the possession of a businessman. The 20-feet long balcony’s wall was in a rickety condition and we had requested him several times to repair it but he did nothing. My uncle would have been alive, had the balcony been repaired,” said Chand’s niece, Rangat Dhanka.

When informed about the family’s allegations, deputy commissioner of police (central) Shweta Chauhan said that she will ask the concerned officer of the local Jama Masjid police station to look into the allegations and take action accordingly and as per law.

Chand lived with his wife Rajni Devi, 21-year-old son Himanshu, brother Ashok Chand and niece Rangat Dhanka in a small house having an 8x8 feet room, a cramped kitchen and an extended living space on the front. He worked at a snacks-packing unit at Kinari Bazaar and earned around ₹100-200 per day. The responsibility of the family is on the shoulder of his brother, who is employed as a peon at an MCD-run school, said his relative, Rekha Devi.

On Monday around 4 pm, as thunderstorms and rains started, Chand and his wife came out of their house to collect clothes that they had put outside to dry. While his wife had just stepped inside to keep the clothes, the concrete wall of the second floor balcony of the adjacent house collapsed due to the storm and fell on him.

“A canvas was tied outside our house. The damaged concrete wall was so big and heavy that it ripped through the canvas and fell on my uncle’s head, killing him on the spot. As my cousin rushed him to hospital, some people from the building came and removed the debris from the spot, much before the police arrived,” said Dhanka.

Chand’s family members cremated his body on Tuesday afternoon.

About the 65-year-old Basir Baba who died after a tree uprooted by the storm fell on him and two other men, deputy commissioner of police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said that the elderly man lived on footpaths in Angoori Bagh and worked as a helper for Aslam, who also owns some cycle rickshaws.

“As the family members of Baba could not be found, his body was handed over to Aslam, the only person known to him, after the autopsy,” said DCP Kalsi, adding that the two injured men, Devender and Neeraj, were discharged from the hospital after medical attention.