Heavy rain batters Delhi; 3 children hurt in wall collapse

 NEW DELHI

Torrential rain lashed Delhi on Friday, leaving large parts of the Capital waterlogged, disrupting traffic, and triggering the collapse of an abandoned house in which three children were trapped and injured.

The injured were identified as Pankaj and Aadi – both eight years old – and 10-year-old Dhruv.

“A call from Saket was received at 12.58 p.m. that a wall had collapsed and some children were trapped under it. Before our team could reach the spot, locals and a PCR unit pulled out three children from the debris, who were rushed to a nearby hospital,” a senior police officer said, adding that the children suffered minor injuries.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Safdarjung recorded 56.2 mm of rain in just three hours between 8.30 a.m. and 11.30 a.m

.“The high rainfall we are witnessing in Delhi this August is mainly due to frequent low-pressure area formations over the Bay of Bengal and its subsequent west-northwestward movement over east, central, and north-west India. Also, the monsoon trough has been close to Delhi on many days this month,” said Krishna Mishra, a scientist at the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

 Delhi Traffic Police alerted commuters on X about road damage under the Jamia Nagar metro station, closing traffic from Holy Family Hospital to the Jamia Nagar police station. The Public Works Department’s (PWD) control rooms received over 15 calls of waterlogging and two about uprooted trees from several areas, including Lajpat Nagar, Janakpuri, Jharodha Road, Nirman Vihar, Mayur Vihar, Seelampur, and Laxmi Nagar.

“We received calls about waterlogging from Jharodha Road, Dhansa Road, Som Bazaar, Nirman Vihar, Preet Vihar, Seelampur, Devli, Khanpur, Mayur Vihar Phase 2, Karkardooma, Anad Vihar, and Laxmi Nagar Metro Station area,” an official said.

Commuters faced delays in parts of the city as vehicles crawled through waterlogged stretches.

Political slugfest

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) called out the “failure of the four-engine government”. AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed 35-40 people died in rain-related accidents this monsoon. “During the AAP government’s tenure, when three students lost their lives in Rajendra Nagar, Lieutenant-Governor (V.K. Saxena) himself went there. Now, with dozens of lives lost this year, he has not visited anyone. Are these people not dying?” he said.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said agencies under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta installed pumps and deployed staff to ensure clearing of drains despite waterlogging.

He termed AAP’s charges “shameful”. “Before blaming the government for waterlogging, Team Arvind Kejriwal should first inform the public what their government did in the past 10 years regarding Delhi’s Sewer Master Plan,” Mr. Sachdeva said.