Auto falls in ditch filled with rain water, driver drowns; Delhi battles downpour

The deceased was identified as Ajit Sharma, a resident of Northeast Delhi’s Nand Nagri. “His auto was found stuck in the ditch. It seems he had driven over the ditch without realising that it was deep, and had accidentally drowned,” said the DCP.

A senior police officer said, “The incident happened sometime late on Thursday… once the post mortem is carried out, we’ll see if there are any lapses in the construction activity and subsequently, add sections under negligence… since it was late in the night and not many passersby were present, it is possible no one spotted the auto till morning. The incident spot also remains dark in the night.”

Said another officer, “It was only in the morning when passersby saw a body next to the auto which had fallen in the ditch… we have not found any foul play so far.”

According to a Public Works Department (PWD) official, “The field unit has been directed to submit the incident report”.

Reacting to the incident, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, “Despite the tall claims of the Delhi government, most of the roads were submerged after the rain last night”.

“The situation can be gauged from the fact that the ground floor of the Secretariat of the Delhi government was waterlogged, while an auto driver died by drowning in a roadside ditch in Harsh Vihar near Wazirabad…,” he added.

Pragati Maidan tunnel under water, again

Monsoon showers left parts of the city waterlogged again on Friday, as June ended with excess rainfall and below-normal temperatures. Till 5.30 pm, the Safdarjung weather station recorded 26.9 mm of rainfall, and the maximum temperature settled at 34.5 degrees Celsius, three degrees below the normal.

Knee deep water, heavy Waterlogging inside #Delhi secretariat @DelhiPwd pic.twitter.com/xDs1YAcQ64

— Gayathri Mani (@gayathrireports) June 30, 2023

The  Pragati Maidan tunnel was flooded again, despite PWD officials claiming to have fixed the drainage problem. PWD officials, however, blamed the management of ITPO and said, “Water is coming from the ITPO basement as the parking lot is connected to the main tunnel. The tunnel is not designed to manage the water coming from the basement. This is why there is always a waterlogging problem here. We have written to the ITPO regarding this issue.”

The entrance to the Delhi Secretariat also saw employees wading through a waterlogged portion. The PWD said it was cleared within an hour.

In total, there were 68 waterlogging complaints.

The Public Works Department (PWD) marked seven locations for major waterlogging including Barapulla Flyover, Panchkuian Marg in Paharganj, East Vinod Nagar in Patparganj, Dhansa Road in Najafgarh, and Mandoli Road. Waterlogging was also noticed beneath the Munirka Flyover, IP Marg. Meanwhile, the PWD received minor waterlogging complaints from 50 other locations including Devi Nagar, Janki Panchal Vihar, Shiv Vihar, Karawal Nagar, Chanchal Park Ranhola, Neha Colony, New Gopal Nagar, Najafgarh, Fatehpur Beri, and Naya Bazar, Chandni Chowk. Complaints of trees falling have been submitted in Okhla Phase I, Hauz Khas, Vijay Nagar, Kalka Ji, and Anand Niketan.

Due to the downpour, a bus broke down near Dhansa stand and another on the way from Rajouri Garden to Punjabi Bagh, near the Bharat Darshan Park Red Light. Since Thursday, Delhi Traffic Police has reported the breakdown of four public buses, including one electronic bus.

Meanwhile, an IMD forecast issued on Friday said that light or moderate rainfall is likely to continue over northwest India for the next two days.