New Delhi: A torrential rain across parts of north India early Friday led to the deaths of seven people in accidents, crippled road traffic, and forced several flights to delay.
The busy road stretches in Delhi, Gurugram, Faridabad and Mathura were inundated with water as commuters remained stuck in slow-moving traffic for hours.
Visuals from several areas showed fallen trees in Delhi and people trying to pull out a half-submerged car stuck in waterlogged areas in Faridabad. Long rows of vehicles were caught in a traffic jam in Ghaziabad.
In Delhi’s Najafgarh, three children and a woman died after a tree fell on their house following strong gusty winds that accompanied rains in the city, causing it to collapse. The woman’s husband was the only survivor of the incident.
“We deployed multiple teams on the spot, and four people were rescued from the rubble,” a Delhi Fire Services official said. They were rushed to a nearby hospital where they were declared dead, he said.
Delhi’s Minto Bridge, ITO, Major Somnath Marg in RK Puram, and Khanpur were flooded with rainwater, causing heavy traffic jams in the areas.
The city received 77 mm of rain in just three hours during the downpour which started around 5 am. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for the city, urging people to remain extremely vigilant and take necessary precautions.
Three flights were diverted, and over 200 flights were delayed at the Delhi airport as thunderstorms and gusty winds disrupted operations.
An official said two flights that were to land at the Delhi airport were diverted to Jaipur and one to Ahmedabad.
Delhi Fire Services received around 100 calls of rain-related incidents during the 3-4 hours of storm and heavy showers. Trees were uprooted in many parts of Delhi, further affecting traffic on the roads.
The Public Works Department said it had received 100 complaints of waterlogging by noon.
In the Lutyens’ Delhi area, 25 tree fall cases and 12 complaints related to waterlogging were received.
A Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited (TPDDL) spokesperson said it received 22 power cut complaints, which were restored within a few minutes to one hour.
“The thunderstorm, heavy rainfall, and strong winds resulted in power disruptions and caused damage to the power lines, with uprooted trees and branches falling onto them. Electricity supply was temporarily suspended in certain areas as a precautionary measure to prevent electrocution,” he said.
In Gurugram, barring a few areas, the majority of the city was waterlogged.
Police were engaged in clearing traffic congestion, and civic authorities were unclogging drains and easing inundated parts.
Traffic crawled on the Delhi-Gurugram Expressway while congestion was also seen in Hero Honda chowk, Rajiv chowk and IFFCO chowk.
At least three people were killed and several were injured in separate incidents when lightning struck large parts of Uttar Pradesh Friday morning.
The victims included two labourers working on a road project under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in Firozabad. A family trying to cover a haystack with a tarpaulin sheet to protect it from rain was also hit.
Police said 17-year-old Diksha died on the spot, and her younger sister Sapna suffered critical burn injuries in the lightning strike during heavy rain and thunder in Etah district’s Bhagwantpur village. Their father and brother were also injured.
Similar scenes played out in the Firozabad district.
Satyendra, 35, and Vishnu, 25, were killed on the spot when lightning hit the Shikohabad-Nanemau road. The third person working with them, Devendra, 30, was injured and rushed tothe hospital, police said.
With rain-related incidents leaving three people dead and causing damage to crops in parts of Uttar Pradesh, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday directed officials to carry out relief and rescue operations with full urgency.
He directed district officials to visit affected areas, assess damage to crops and livestock, and ensure that relief is distributed immediately to those affected by lightning strikes, rain-related mishaps, or storm damage.
Adityanath also ordered a detailed crop damage assessment and instructed officials to submit their reports to the state government promptly so that further steps could be taken for compensation. In urban and low-lying areas facing waterlogging, he asked officials to prioritise drainage efforts.
According to the IMD, western Uttar Pradesh is likely to witness rain and thundershowers at a few places May 3 and 4, accompanied by strong surface winds of 25-35 km/hr and gusty winds reaching 40-50 km/hr at isolated locations.
In eastern Uttar Pradesh, isolated rains are expected on May 3 and more widespread showers on May 4. Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds (30-50 km/hr) are also likely during this period.
The IMD has advised residents to stay alert and take precautions in view of the expected weather disturbances.
Himachal Pradesh capital Shimla and its surrounding area of Jubbarhatti were lashed by hailstorms, while several places in the state received rains, the weather office said Friday.
The Tutikandi-ISBT road was blocked for a few hours in Shimla after trees fell on three vehicles parked on the road. Students and office goers faced inconvenience during the morning hours.
Gusty winds were witnessed in Kufri, Bilaspur, Reckong Peo, Bajura, Narkanada and Tabo while thunderstorms occurred in Shimla, Jubbarhatti, Sundernagar, Jot, Bhuntar, Murari Devi, Kufri and Kangra, the Met said.
The Met station has issued an orange alert of hailstorms at isolated places in the state Friday and orange and yellow warnings of thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds with a speed of up to 30-50 kmph till next Thursday.
The minimum temperature dropped by 2-5 degrees Celsius at many places in the state, and Tabo in Lahaul and Spiti recorded a low of 5.6 degrees Celsius.
In its outlook for the month of May, the weather department said the mean maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to stay above normal over most parts and above normal heat wave days would be over many parts of low hills/plains and adjoining mid-hills of Himachal Pradesh.
Above normal rainfall is likely over many parts of the low hills/plains and adjoining mid hills of the state, and near normal over the rest of the state, it added.
Overnight rains and strong winds in many parts of Punjab and Haryana brought temperatures down slightly in the two states.
Hisar, Bathinda and Gurdaspur received the most rainfall, the local Met department said.
PTI
