Delhi rain fury toll reaches 11 as 6 more fatalities reported
At least 6 more deaths confirmed in rain-related incidents in Delhi, with heavy rain expected till Tuesday. Officials warn residents to be prepared.
At least six more deaths were confirmed in rain-related incidents — the bodies of three labourers were recovered from a collapsed basement, and three more deaths from drownings were reported in underpasses — in Delhi on Saturday as the toll from Friday morning’s record-breaking downpour, which inundated parts of the city leading to an absolute collapse of infrastructure, touched 11 while residents and officials attempted to pick up pieces in the aftermath of the chaos.
Weather officials, meanwhile, warned that heavy rain is still likely in the Capital till at least Tuesday, with India Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing an “orange alert” for the city — implying that residents need to “be prepared” for heavy rains, expect waterlogging and stay away from power lines etc.
The first deaths to be confirmed were of three labourers early on Saturday morning who were trapped in mud and water when the basement of an under-construction building collapsed in Vasant Vihar in south Delhi nearly as soon as the rain started on Friday morning. Their bodies were recovered after a 28-hour-long rescue operation consisting of teams from the Delhi Police, city’s fire department and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
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To be sure, officials had warned on Friday itself that it was unlikely that the three labourers — 19-year-old Santosh Yadav, his namesake 20-year-old Santosh Yadav, and 45-year-old Daya Ram — would survive as they had been buried under rubble in a 20-foot-deep hole dug for a two-storey basement in Vasant Vihar’s B-Block. In Friday’s rains, the rubble had entirely disappeared around 15-feet underwater as rain had filled the basement.
A senior police officer who did not wish to be identified said that an investigating has been launched into the alleged lack of safety precautions which could have averted the incident and which were not paid heed to. “There is a clear lapse at the end of the person who tasked to build this structure and the person who employed these labourers. We are ascertaining the laws and guidelines that needed to be followed to ensure their safety and action will be taken depending on how and who flouted them,” the officer said. The owner of the plot is a businessman who contracted the task to the builder who has been identified but yet to be arrested, the officer said.
By Saturday afternoon, as city officials continued recovery operations in the aftermath of flooding of several underpasses, the bodies of three people — including two minor boys aged 10 and 12 years — were found in two separate underpasses. These drownings come after three similar instances of drownings in underpasses were reported in the city a day earlier — taking the total of deaths by such freak accidents in Friday’s rains to five.
In Saturday’s first reported drowning, the bodies of two children were found in the Siraspur underpass near Samaypur Badli in northwest Delhi, officials said. Police officials said they suspect that the two boys, who were friends, had gone to swim in the water that had collected in the flooded underpass.
“When police reached the spot, they found the underpass near the metro station flooded with nearly three feet of water. The fire department was called to the scene and conducted a search operation, recovering the bodies of two young boys,” said deputy commissioner of police (outer north) Ravi Kumar Singh.
Later in the day, the body of a 60-year-old man — identified as Digvijay Kumar Chaudhary, 60, of Jaitpur — was found in the Okhla underpass in south Delhi. Police officials said that it appeared that Chaudhary was riding a scooter that was caught in the inundated underpass.
In both incidents, inquest proceedings have been initiated, police stated.
Extreme rainfall on Friday caused widespread chaos across Delhi and surrounding regions leading to an absolute collapse on infrastructure as the roof over part of the Indira Gandhi International airport collapsed, underpasses across the city flooded, and traffic across the city was disrupted after Friday’s heavy rains. The spell, in which Delhi recorded 234.5mm of rainfall, was the Union territory’s highest for June since 1936, when 415.8mm was recorded.
While the rainfall itself was responsible for the chaos, the situation was exacerbated by an administration that had not prepared for the rains and was inadequate in terms of the pace and magnitude of its response to the crisis.
Meanwhile, IMD has issued an “orange alert” for the city till Tuesday, and a yellow alert for the three days after that. IMD issues green, yellow, orange and red alerts in increasing order of intensity of weather forecast.
An “orange alert” asks people to “be prepared”. According to IMD’s advisory people should check for traffic congestion, avoid waterlogged areas, and stay away from power lines or electrical wires. It further advises people to stay indoors and avoid travel, if possible.
“Heavy rain might occur on Sunday and continue till Monday. Moderate rain is expected to continue throughout the week, after that,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice-president of Skymet.
Most parts of Delhi were spared another onset of rain on Saturday as Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, recorded trace amount of rain till in the 24 hours till 8.30am on Saturday and no further rain till 5.30pm, IMD data showed. Other stations recorded minimal rainfall ranging between 1mm and 3mm.