New Delhi: The monsoon fury continued in the national capital as at least seven people were killed when a wall collapsed in Jaitpur amid heavy rains, which began Friday overnight. The downpour and adverse weather conditions also delayed more than 300 flights here and brought most of the city to a standstill on Raksha Bandhan. The city, after relentless rain on Saturday, recorded its coldest August day in at least 14 years, with the maximum temperature settling at 26.4 degrees Celsius, 7.8 degrees below normal.
In the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Saturday, Safdarjung logged 78.7 mm, Pragati Maidan 100 mm, Lodhi Road 80 mm, Pusa 69 mm, and Palam 31.8 mm. Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm, the India Meteorological Department recorded an additional 25.9 mm of rainfall at Safdarjung. Inundated stretches, uprooted trees, and bad roads cripled most of Delhi. Waterlogging and heavy jams were reported all along the Ring Road, Anand Parbat, New Rohtak Road, Zakhira Railway Underpass, GTK Depot, Jahangirpuri, Adarsh Nagar, Panchkuian Marg, Mathura Road, Shastri Bhawan, RK Puram, Moti Bagh, and Kidwai Nagar. Pragati Maidan Tunnel, Dhaula Kuan, ITO, MB Road near the Sainik Farm stretch, Sarai Kale Khan, Defence Colony Underpass, Azadpur Market, Peeragarhi Chowk, Pul Prahladpur, Zakhira Underpass, and the area around the New Delhi Railway Station also saw heavy traffic jams. Vehicles crawled on Dyal Singh College Road (from Sunehari Pulla Bus Depot towards JLN Stadium) due to an uprooted tree near JLN Metro Station Gate No. 1, and the Zakira Underpass was closed because of waterlogging. The Delhi Traffic Police issued several advisories on X and also urged people to opt for Delhi Metro services. Although the exact cause of the Jaitpur wall collapse incident is yet to be ascertained, officials pointed to the possibility of waterlogging and soil weakening due to the overnight heavy rainfall.
According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS), the department received a call regarding the wall collapse at 9:16 a.m. Three fire tenders, along with police teams, rushed to the spot. Police said they received the first call about the collapse at 9:13 a.m. A senior police officer said that upon receiving the call, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Jaitpur, along with all available staff, immediately reached the site carrying ropes and other rescue tools. “Rescue operations were initiated without delay. Additional DCP (South-East) Aishwarya Sharma and ACP Ravishankar also arrived to oversee the operations,” the officer said. The officer added that the wall was broken through to rescue those trapped. Eight persons were pulled out and rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre and Safdarjung Hospital. “Of the eight, seven — including three men, two women, and two minor girls — succumbed to their injuries during treatment. The injured person, identified as Hasibul (27), son of Khushana, a resident of Gangadhari, Jortalapara in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital’s trauma centre,” said the officer. Police said a thorough search was carried out by the Delhi Fire Service and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, but no other persons were found under the debris. Meanwhile, more than 300 flights were delayed and some were cancelled at the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) here, which handles around 1,300 flight movements daily. The average delay in flight departures was around 17 minutes, according to data available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com. In a post on X in the morning, IndiGo said there was heavy downpour over Delhi, causing some temporary disruption to flight schedules. “If you’re travelling today, please be aware of potential delays and allow additional time for your journey, especially with traffic moving slower than usual. “We’re monitoring the situation closely and will get you airborne as soon as possible,” it said. Air India, in a post in the morning, said rain may impact flight operations to and from Delhi on Saturday. Early on Saturday morning, the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for heavy rain with lightning and thunderstorms for parts of north, west, south, southeast, and Central Delhi, but later downgraded to a yellow alert, advising people to be aware.