One dead after heavy rain in Delhi; water-logging, traffic jams, power outages hit national capital

The National Capital received its first spell of heavy rains on Sunday morning which led to the death of one person, water-logging in low-lying areas, and traffic snarls in the city, according to several media reports. According to Indian Express, a 56-year-old died after drowning under the Minto Bridge as heavy rains lashed parts of Delhi-NCR. The body of the truck driver was spotted by a trackman working at New Delhi yard. “I spotted the body while I was on duty at the tracks,” Ramniwas Meena told ANI. “I came down, swam, and retrieved it. The body was floating in front of a bus.” AAP leader Sanjay Singh said that the man was trying to remove his vehicle from the waterlogged patch of road. “There are many agencies such as MCD, PWD, and Jal Board dealing with water-logging. That makes it difficult to ascertain who is responsible for waterlogging at a particular place,” Singh told ANI. According to the Delhi Traffic Police, jams were reported from Azadpur to Mukarba Chowk, Yashwant Place to Ashoka Road, at Ring Road, Bhairon Road, and near Mundka metro station due to heavy water-logging. A Delhi Transport Corporation bus was stuck under the Minto Bridge and only a small portion of the bus was visible above the water surface. The driver and the conductor of the bus were rescued by the fire department personnel, reported PTI.

#WATCH Delhi: Fire Department personnel rescue people on-board a bus that was stuck in a waterlogged road under Minto Bridge following heavy rainfall in the national capital this morning. pic.twitter.com/wBCjSRtvqw

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2020

Delhi: Heavy rainfall leads to waterlogging at several places in the national capital; visuals from ITO area. pic.twitter.com/59E9Z44WjB

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2020

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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative figures for the city, recorded 74.8 mm rainfall till 8:30 am. Ridge, Lodhi Road, Palam, and Ayanagar weather stations recorded 86 mm, 81.2 mm, 16.9 mm, and 12.2 mm rainfall, respectively, it said. Rainfall below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 mm and 64.5 mm moderate, and above 64.5 mm heavy, according to the IMD. According to News18, several houses have also been washed away in Anna Colony near ITO as heavy rainfall resulted in the sewage water being washed out. No one was present in the house at the time of the incident and Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS) and fire engines are present at the spot, reported ANI.

#Alert | Dramatic visuals of houses near a drain in Delhi’s Anna Nagar cluster area being washed away in heavy rains.

No casualty reported as of now. pic.twitter.com/ontg5NTBwe

— News18 (@CNNnews18) July 19, 2020

The rains also led to power outages in some areas. Earlier, the IMD had predicted isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall over parts of northwest India. It had said the “entire monsoon trough is most likely to shift northwards, closer to the foothills of the Himalayas during 19 and 20 July.” Despite the early arrival of monsoon in Delhi, the rains had remained subdued. Till Saturday, the Safdarjung Observatory had recorded 47.9 mm rainfall in July, 56 percent less than the normal of 109.4 mm. Monsoon reached Delhi on 25 June, two days earlier than its usual date. The IMD has predicted normal rainfall in the National Capital during the season. With inputs from PTI