6 dead in Wednesday's rain-related incidents in Delhi; AAP, BJP in war of words

New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Six people, including two children, lost their lives while three more were injured in rain-related incidents in Delhi in Wednesday evening's extremely intense spell of downpour that unleashed chaos in the city.

As the national capital limped back to normal on Thursday with authorities stepping up efforts since the morning to pump out water from its flooded roads, the ruling AAP and the BJP engaged in a blame game.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said six weather stations in the city recorded 100 mm of rainfall in a single day, categorising it as an "extremely intense spell". The Safdarjung observatory, considered Delhi's official weather station, recorded 107.6 mm downpour in 24 hours till 8.30 am on Thursday.

Delhi Police data showed it received 2,727 calls related to traffic jams and 119 of waterlogging from Wednesday evening till midnight. It also received 26 calls of building collapse and one more such incident till 7 am on Thursday.

Officials attributed Wednesday's rain-related fatalities to electrocution, waterlogging and building collapse incidents following the rainfall.

In east Delhi's Ghazipur, a 22-year-old woman and her three-year-old son drowned after falling into a waterlogged drain. Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Apoorva Gupta said a portion of the under-construction drain was uncovered.

The city also reported three deaths due to electrocution and one person died in a house collapse.

A 12-year-old boy was electrocuted on coming in contact with a live wire in southwest Delhi's Bindapur area while returning home from tuition and an 18-year-old man died outside his house in Sangam Vihar when he was returning home from a market.

A similar incident occurred in southeast Delhi's Mithapur area in which a 28-year-old man died of electrocution on the terrace of his home.

On Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) slammed Lieutenant Governor and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) chairperson V K Saxena over the Ghazipur drowning incident and demanded action against erring officials.

At a press conference, the party's Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh termed the incident "unfortunate", and said, "The DDA was carrying out the work of redevelopment of the drain. The LG is the chairman of the DDA. We demand action against the LG." Singh accused the BJP of "maintaining" silence over the incident that he likened to a "murder".

The DDA defended itself, saying a major portion of the drain where the tragedy struck had been handed over to the MCD while their part was covered with slabs.

The BJP hit back at AAP, alleging a scam in the de-silting of drains in the national capital by the Kejriwal government's agencies and demanded a CBI probe.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that "corruption and loot by the AAP-led Delhi government and the MCD are responsible for the deaths of three civil services aspirants in a flooded basement library of a coaching centre in Old Rajinder Nagar and other rain-related incidents in the city".

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, weather stations in Mayur Vihar recorded 147 mm downpour, Najafgarh and Ridge 113 mm each, Lodhi Road 106 mm and Delhi University 104 mm till 8.30 am on Thursday.

Other stations in Pusa recorded 86 mm of rainfall, while Aaya Nagar received 71 mm and the Palam observatory 68.3 mm.

Delhi Urban Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the MCD, like other urban local bodies, should get grants from the Centre and that he will write to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman seeking Rs 5,200 crore for the civic body.

He said the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) needs the grants to develop infrastructure like drains and roads.

On Thursday, schools in the city remained closed.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'satisfactory' category with a reading of 63 at 10 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor', and 401 and 500 'severe'. PTI ALK SLB NIT SJJ BM VIT BUN IJT