DFS gets 80+ calls as storm leaves a trail of destruction

Delhi Fire Services received over 80 emergency calls due to a severe thunderstorm, leading to tree falls, property damage, and waterlogging across the city.

The city’s first responder, the Delhi Fire Services (DFS), was flooded with calls from as early as 5am on Friday as the unprecedented thunderstorm and heavy rains swept the city, leaving behind a trail of destruction — more than 80 emergency calls were made to DFS to deal with tree falling, car and property damage, waterlogging and traffic snarls, officials said.

An uprooted tree blocks a road following a thunderstorm and rains on the Safdarjung Road on Friday. (PTI)

While DFS officials spread across the city to deal with emergency calls, the newly formed Quick Response Teams (QRT) too went on ground, according to the CM’s office, but no details were available regarding action taken by them. The teams formed last month were tasked to assist citizens round-the-clock in emergencies that hit residents on Friday.

Officials from the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), under whose aegis the teams fall, said that QRTs were deployed, and did “an excellent job of removing fallen trees in the city.” But like officials from CM’s office, they did not share the details of action taken by them.

DFS chief Atul Garg said that rain- and storm-related calls started coming from 5am and went on till 10am.

More than 250 firefighters worked at different areas to help distressed people. DFS members were also deployed at Dwarka’s Jafarpur Kalan where four people died, including a woman and her three children, following a wall collapse, while her husband was left injured. In Chhawla, a 41-year-old man and his two sons, aged 15 and 13, were injured after a wall collapsed inside their house due to the storm.

Another fire official said that most of the tree falling incidents were in central, north and south Delhi. “A huge number of calls were from Qutub area, Hauz Khas, Dwarka, Greater Kailash, Neeti Bagh, Malkaganj, Burari, Karol Bagh, Lodhi Road area etc,” the officials added. Other areas included Sheikh Sarai, Vasant Kunj, Panchsheel Enclave, and Shahpur Jat.

In Sheikh Sarai, more than six cars were damaged after a tree fell. The tree also damaged a boundary wall. In Panchsheel Enclave, a tree fell on a businessman’s house as it passed through the window

More than 60 fire tenders, trucks, excavators were deployed to remove trees and debris in the morning hours.

Fire officials said they also dealt with waterlogging calls as many people were caught by the sudden inundation. “The calls came from outer Ring Road, Model Town, Chattarpur, Vasant Vihar, Karol Bagh etc. We had to call for fire tenders from 5-8 fire stations at once for help...” said a DFS officer.

The work only stopped after 12 noon, the official said.