Wednesday's intense spell of rains claimed six lives in Delhi

New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Six people, including two children, died and three were injured in rain-related incidents in the national capital in Wednesday evening's intense spell of downpour, officials said here.
    They attributed the fatalities to electrocution, waterlogging and building collapse.
    Tanuja, 22, and her three-year-old son Priyansh had gone to a weekly market in east Delhi's Ghazipur area when they fell into a waterlogged drain and drowned.
    The incident occurred around 8 pm near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under construction. When their bodies were brought out of the water, the woman still had her arms wrapped around the toddler.
    They were taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, where doctors declared them dead, a police officer said.
    Deputy Commissioner of Police (east) Apoorva Gupta said the incident took place as a portion of the drain was uncovered. A case of death due to negligence has been registered and a probe is underway, the official added.
    In southwest Delhi's Bindapur, a 12-year-old boy was electrocuted after coming in contact with a live wire, according to police.
    They said Mudit Kumar was returning home from tuition when this happened.
    Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Ankit Kumar Singh said police found two plastic pipes encasing disconnected electric cables emerging from the ground. The cables were tied to a wall near the DDA flats in the area, he said.
    Mudit Kumar's father Raman Kumar, a manager at a private bank, blamed power discoms of negligence despite several complaints.
    He alleged that a few weeks ago, the power department conducted some repair work in their society but did not fix the problem properly which posed a threat to residents.
    In a statement, power discom BSES said preliminary reports indicate that the tragedy occurred despite the division team having shut off the power supply to ensure safety in the area as it was waterlogged due to heavy rain.
    It said the two plastic pipes containing disconnected cables found emerging from underground do not belong to the discom and appear to be internet wires.
    Another incident of electrocution occurred in Sangam Vihar.
    Eighteen-year-old Anil Kumar Shah was electrocuted outside his house while returning from the market.
    A local police officer said Shah was a rag picker and lived with his brother in E block of Sangam Vihar.
    The officer said prima facie it is suspected to be a case of electrocution but the actual cause will be confirmed only after a post-mortem examination.
    "Due to the heavy rain, we could not find public transport. We carried him on our shoulders to Batra Hospital," Anil's uncle Ramji Shah said, adding that his nephew died due to negligence of the civic authorities and BSES.
    Expressing condolences to the bereaved family, a BSES official said preliminary reports indicate the area was flooded with approximately two feet of water and photographs show burnt internal wire in contact with the shutter, suggesting it as the probable cause of the accident.
    He added that the discom's network was not involved in the incident.
    In southeast Delhi's Mithapur area, 28-year-old Prabhat was electrocuted on the terrace of his house while it was raining. Police suspect he might have come in contact with a wire connected to the water tank alarm system.
    However, since there are no eyewitnesses, the exact cause of the electrocution could not be ascertained immediately, the officer added.
    A 62-year-old man died in a building collapse in north Delhi's Sabji Mandi area. Anil Kumar Gupta was inside the building when it collapsed around 8.30 pm. He succumbed to injuries at St Stephen's Hospital, the officer said.
    Till 7 am on Thursday, the Delhi Police received 2,945 calls of traffic jams, 127 calls of waterlogging, 27 calls of building collapse and 50 calls of uprooted trees, the officials said.
    A woman was injured and a car damaged in a wall collapse in south Delhi's Defence Colony around 9.30 pm on Wednesday, the police officer said.
    Two more people were injured after a portion of a house wall collapsed in northeast Delhi's Shastri Park area around 7.30 pm on Wednesday, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)