At least 11 people were killed in Delhi in rain-related incidents since Friday, reported the Hindustan Times.
The capital witnessed a record-breaking downpour in the early hours of Friday, with heavy rains continuing on Saturday. The wet spell is likely continue till as least Tuesday, according to the India Meteorological Department. People have been warned to stay away from power lines and be prepared for widespread waterlogging.
On Saturday, the bodies of three labourers were recovered from a collapsed basement in Vasant Vihar after a 28-hour-long rescue operation by Delhi Police, the fire department and the National Disaster Response Force.
The labourers – 19-year-old Santosh Yadav, 20-year-old Santosh Yadav and 45-year-old Daya Ram – were trapped in mud and water in a 20-feet-deep hole that had been dug for the construction of a two-story basement.
The police have launched an investigation into the lack of safety measures at the construction site.
“There is a clear lapse at the end of the person who tasked to build this structure and the person who employed these labourers,” an unidentified police official was quoted by the newspaper as saying. “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.”
Another three persons reportedly drowned in underpasses.
The bodies of two minor boys were recovered from an underpass in Siraspur near Samaypur Badli in northwest Delhi. The police suspect that they had gone swimming in the rainwater that flooded the underpasses.
The body of another man, Digvijay Kumar Chaudhary, was recovered from an underpass in the Jaitpur area of Okhla in southeast Delhi.
On Friday, five persons were reported dead in rain-related incidents, including three cases in which people drowned in underpasses.
A portion of the canopy at the old departure forecourt at the Delhi airport’s Terminal 1 collapsed around 5 am on Friday, killing one person. All flight operations were suspended at Terminal One indefinitely.
Delhi recorded 228.1 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday, the highest single-day volume of rain seen in the national capital in the month of June in 88 years.
Between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm of precipitation in a 24-hour period is classified as “heavy rain” by the central weather agency. “Very heavy rain” is when an area receives over 115.5 mm of precipitation within 24 hours.
Delhi this month also saw the highest number of heatwave days recorded in June in the last 15 years, The Hindu reported, citing data from the India Meteorological Department.
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