Man drowns in waterlogged street, shanties collapse as heavy rains lash Delhi

A 56-year-old pick-up truck driver drowned while trying to manoeuvre his vehicle through the waterlogged underpass at Minto Bridge, many shanties collapsed and low-lying areas were inundated as heavy rains lashed the national capital on Sunday.

Delhi received its first spell of heavy rains this morning with 74.8 mm rainfall being recorded till 8:30 am.

Many residents shared on social media platforms videos and pictures of rainwater gushing into their houses and vehicles wading through waterlogged roads.

According to officials, waterlogging was reported at several places like Minto Road and under the railway bridge, both carriageways of GTK Depot, Azadpur underpass, Guru Nanak Chowk on Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg, South Avenue Road and Pul Prahladpur underpass on M B Road.

A spate of incidents were reported in the national capital as several areas were waterlogged.

Some shanties collapsed near the WHO building in Anna Nagar on Sunday morning. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot. A small NDRF team was sent to Anna Nagar near ITO to take stock of the situation.

The 56-year-old pick-up truck driver who was trying to manoeuvre his vehicle through the waterlogged underpass at Minto Bridge here drowned, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Kundan. He was driving a Tata Ace from New Delhi Railway Station towards Connaught Place this morning, they said.

A bus and two auto-rickshaws were also stuck at the Minto Bridge underpass due to heavy waterlogging.

"We received a call around 7:54 AM. Our team reached the spot where a bus and two auto-rickshaws were stuck due to waterlogging. The driver and the conductor of the bus and an auto driver were safely rescued by our personnel," said Atul Garg, Director, Delhi Fire Service.

There were no passengers on board the bus, he said.

Due to waterlogging, traffic snarls were also reported at many places in Delhi.

Taking to Twitter, the Delhi Traffic Police has been alerting commuters about traffic snarls due to waterlogging at specific areas across the city.

Traffic snarls due to waterlogging has also been reported from Minto Road, Mathura Road, Outer Ring Road, Mehrauli Badarpur Road and Ashram.

Several low-lying areas and road stretches where repair is going were flooded.

"Traffic disrupted at many places because trees fell down. Among the places which saw trees falling down are: 1. Near Tilak Nagar metro station service lane 2. Prashant Vihar Lancer's Convent school Rohini 3. Dr Zakir Hussain Marg near Oberoi Hotel," the traffic police tweeted.