Rain, thunderstorm wreak havoc in Delhi

As many as four persons of a family, including three children and their mother, died while another one suffered injuries after a tree fell on their house during a thunderstorm that hit the Capital in the wee hours of Friday.

The deceased have been identified as Jyoti (28), her three children – Aryan (7), Rishabh (5) and Priyansh (7 months). Their father Ajay (30) survived with minor injuries on the chest and wrist.

A senior Fire Department official said they received a call from Jaffarpur area regarding a house collapse at 5.24 am. After getting information, three fire tenders were rushed to Kharkhari Nahar village in southwest Delhi. When the firemen reached the spot, they found that a tubewell room had collapsed as a large tree fell on it and some persons were trapped under the debris.

“A rescue operation was initiated immediately and five persons of a family were taken out and rushed to Rao Tula Ram Hospital,” Delhi Fire Service chief Atul Garg told The Tribune.

While Ajay sustained minor injuries, his wife and three children were declared brought dead at the hospital.

In another incident, which was reported from the Dwarka area of the city, three persons suffered minor injuries when the wall of their neighbour’s house collapsed on them in Paparawat village. The injured persons, identified as Omprakash (41), Love (13) and Saurabh (15), were taken to RTR Hospital.

In another case, a 25-year-old labourer lost his life after being electrocuted during the thunderstorm at an under-construction plot in southwest Delhi. The deceased, identified as Ankit, a native of Mainpuri, was working at the site when the incident occurred around 4:30 am.

Meanwhile, a four-year-old boy was also injured after a chunk of cement from the roof fell on him at New Ashok Nagar in east Delhi.

Notably, heavy rains and thunderstorm lashed the city around 5 am on Thursday which disrupted normal life as several areas reported power outages, uprooted trees and waterlogging.

The IMD issued an alert advising the people to keep a watch on weather for worsening conditions and be ready to move to safer places.

A senior IMD officer said during the intense thunderstorm, wind speed even reached 80 km per hour at the Safdarjung observatory followed by 78 km/h at Pragati Maidan, 74 km/h at Palam, 59 km/h at Lodhi Road and Pitampura, 56 km/h at Najafgarh and 52 km/h at IGNOU.

During the past 24 hours 78 mm of rainfall was recorded at Lodi Road, followed by 77 mm at Safdarjung, 71.5 mm at Pitampura and Pragati Maidan, 67.5 mm at Jaffarpur, 59.2 mm at Ridge and 50 mm at PUSA.

Meanwhile, flight operations at Indira Gandhi International Airport were disrupted due to the severe weather. According to Flightradar24, at least three inbound flights were diverted — two to Jaipur and one to Ahmedabad — while over 100 flights experienced delays.

IMD predicts light showers till May 6

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted that Delhi will witness light showers till May 6. On Friday, the base station of the IMD received 77 mm of rainfall making its way into the record book of highest single day rainfall. On May 20, 2021, Delhi recorded 119.3 mm. The national capital recorded 60 mm of rainfall on May 24, 1976. Usually, Delhi receives 35 mm of rainfall in May. Storms accompanied by rain led to a dip in the temperature by 7 degrees. The minimum temperature dipped to 18.5°C against a normal temperature of 25°C.

Delhi