Heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds gusting up to 70-80 kmph lashed the capital on Monday, killing two and injuring eight.
Police said that till 8 pm on Monday, 294 calls were received in different parts of the city regarding the cutting of trees. Lutyens’ Delhi was the worst hit with its tree-lined paths as fallen trees and branches led to a standoff that lasted several hours.
The weather station at Safdarjung received 17.8 mm of rain in a span of 2.5 hours, while Lodhi Road received 20 mm of rain. However, the rain was not evenly distributed across the city as Palam received only 0.4 mm of rain and areas like Najafgarh and Pitampura remained dry.
DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan said the storm killed 50-year-old Kailash Chand when a shutter fell on him at Vakilpura, Jama Masjid. DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi said one more death was reported from Angoori Bagh in north Delhi where 65-year-old Bashir Baba died at the trauma centre. He said two persons were also rescued from the same spot, who were seriously injured.
Jama Masjid’s Shahi Imam Syed Ahmed Bukhari said that along with the end of the main dome, some other parts of the mosque also fell in the storm and the structure was in urgent need of repair.
Lieutenant Governor Vinay Kumar Saxena said on Twitter that he was “distressed” to see trees uprooted after the sudden rain.
The IMD has predicted partly cloudy to very light rain/thundershower during afternoon/evening on Tuesday with maximum and minimum temperatures likely to be between 40 and 25 degrees Celsius, respectively.
EOM