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Heavy rains in the national capital claimed two lives on Tuesday, as life came to a standstill in many parts of the city due to record overnight showers, which led to water logging in several areas resulting in chaotic traffic jams. The city has received a record 126 mm of rains till 8:30 am today since Sunday evening. Rain gauges measured 57 mm of rains for a period of 12 hours ending 8:30 am on Tuesday.
The overnight rains brought the city to a halt with several busy intersections and roads still inundated by the first widespread monsoon rains in the city. Sapna, 8, drowned in the water which had flooded her house in Devli village early today while Nadeem, 36, was electrocuted to death at Mori Gate on Monday night after coming in contact with an electric pole.
The fire brigade officials said they received a call at around 12:15 am that a house was flooded with water after heavy rains in the capital. "We rushed fire tenders to the spot. After hours of work, we managed to flushout the water from the house. The girl was found inside the house," the official said.
Sapna was rushed to AIIMS where she was declared brought dead. Nadeem, a resident of Gupta Colony, met with the accident at around 9.20 pm, when the electric pole caught fire and he apparently came in contact with it.
In another rain related incident, seven shops were gutted in a fire at INA market in south Delhi at around 4:45 am due to short circuit. Heavy traffic snarls were reported from various places including Chirag Dilli, Dwaraka Sectors 6, 7 and 22, Andheri More, Moolchand, Bijwasan, Bhajanpura, Sultanpuri, Lado Sarai, Ashram, Lajpat Nagar, Sarita Vihar and Maharani Bagh. Vehicular movement was at a snail's pace at Nizamuddin, ITO and Pragati Maidan today morning troubling office-goers.
Traffic jam was also reported from Seelampur, Apsara Border, Jehangirpuri, Connaught Place, Dilli Cantt, Greater Kailash, Shadipur and on Mehrauli-Badarpur road. Commuters coming from Dwarka had a harrowing time today morning as all routes leading to the main city were choked.
"I have been on the roads for almost two hours and do not know when I will reach my destination," said Rakesh, a software professional, who was stuck on a Dwarka road.
Potholes added to the woes of motorists with hundreds of them surfacing on major roads. Delhi Mayor Kanwar Sain said he 'regretted' the suffering caused to the citizens but dismissed suggestions that the water logging was due to the failure of the Municipal Corporation Of Delhi in de-silting city drains.
"As the first citizen of Delhi, I regret it that the people had to suffer during the rains. I will personally supervise the operation to bring back the situation to normal," Sain said. However, he said he was convinced that de-silting has been conducted satisfactorily in 98 per cent of the drains.
"There are different reasons for water-logging in different areas. In many parts of the city, Metro and other agencies are undertaking construction work. This is preventing the water from flowing into the drains," he said.
The fire brigade said it was flooded with calls as the city witnessed heavy showers, with over 100 denizens approaching, with complaints ranging from water logging to short circuit.