11 killed as rains lash Delhi

At least 11 people, including two woman and three children, were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rains lashed the capital on Monday evening, causing serpentine traffic jams and water logging in several areas.

Four incidents of electrocution were reported from various parts of the city in which six people lost their lives while five others perished in two incidents of wall-collapse. Two each persons died due to electrocution in Manasarovar Park and Chandni Chowk while one each deaths were reported from Mori Gate and Patel Nagar. The victim in Patel Nagar was a 13-year-old boy.

Two men were electrocuted tonight when they came in contact with an electric wire which fell off a pole due to the rains in central Delhi's Chandni Chowk at around 2000 hrs. The victims were identified as Ram Kishan and Ram Lakhan.

A woman Shanti Devi and her children Pankaj (8) and Navin (12) died when a portion of a wall collapsed in north-east Delhi's Jhilmil Colony amid rains at around 8:30 pm, police said in New Delhi. In another incident, an elderly woman and her grandchild died in Vivek Vihar. Two persons were also injured in a wall collapse incident in Jamia Nagar.

Monsoon showers, which eluded the city during the day, brought back cheers to Delhiites as the mercury came down. The rains started at around 1800 hrs and lasted for about 90 minutes.The rain gauges measured 51.4 mm till 9:30 pm. A week ago, similar showers threw traffic out of gear in the capital. The showers caught unawares many office-goers and commuters returning home. Many roads were waterlogged, resulting in traffic snarls. Some vehicles also got stuck in the middle of the road.

The MCD Central Control Room said it got 32 complaints of water logging and 13 of uprooting of trees in just 40 minutes. Chandni Chowk, West Delhi and New Delhi were the worst-affected areas, officials said. Connaught Place was also affected badly by rains. Traffic obstructions were reported from near General Post Office,Mandir Marg, Barakhamba, Minto Road, Ranjit Singh flyover as well as Chanakya Puri, authorities said. 

"Heavy traffic jam was there on M B Road from Saket to Sangam Vihar. I could cover just 500 metres in an hour," said a commuter J P Gautam. Prashant Sharma, another commuter said, "I am stuck at Shantivan red light for the past 80 minutes. It is maddening." Similar was the situation of Nitin Dutt and Mansi from ITO and Rajghat respectively. Dutt said owing to heavy traffic at ITO he could not moved an inch for an hour while Mansi said she was stuck at Rajghat for about two hours with no sign of any improvement to the situation.

People were seen wading through knee-deep water near Chandni Chowk and Red Fort, where vehicular movement was very slow. Water logging on the road between New Friends Colony and Ashram chowk also resulted in a traffic going haywire. Heavy traffic snags were reported from Ashoka Road entry point in India Gate hexagon.

Uprooting of trees and electric poles due to strong winds that accompanied the rain also added to the traffic chaos on Delhi roads. The affected areas included Kingsway Camp, Ring Road and Nirankari Colony. Rain-related traffic obstructions were also reported from Kalindi Kunj, near Apollo hospital, Hanuman Setu and Jamna Bazar. Two blueline buses and one truck developing technical problems in the middle of Mathura Road near Ashram also added to the traffic snarls.

Traffic-related chaos was also reported from Bhairov Mandir flyover towards Nehru place. "Traffic is heavy on outer ring road and there is obstruction on Ma Anand Mai Marg due to water logging," police said. Water logging at the Minto Road underpass also resulted in traffic chaos.

The south-west monsoon had hit the city on July five, a week later than it was supposed to descend over the capital. However, the rains subsided soon due to shifting of the monsoon system to Himalayan foothills. Though the rains brought some relief, the initial part the day was hot and humid.

The maximum temperature, which touched 36.6 degree C during the day, plunged by a few notches following the rains. The humidity was on higher side crossing 90 per cent. The maximum recorded today was one degree above normal while the minimum settled at 28.7 degree C, two notches above normal.

The MeT Department said the city has so far received 129.1 mm of rains this monsoon, which is around four per cent more than the average. The weatherman predicted that the temperatures will oscillate between 28 and 37 degrees Celsius on Tuesday.