No let-up in rain, Delhi-NCR schools shut today

दिल्ली में पिछले 2 दिनों से हो रही मूसलाधार बरसात और मौसम विभाग की चेतावनियों को ध्यान में रखते हुए कल दिल्ली के सभी स्कूलों को एक दिन के लिए बंद किया जा रहा है।

— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) July 9, 2023

The national capital, meanwhile, broke yet another monsoon record on Sunday after it received the heaviest rainfall for a single day in the past 41 years. The Safdarjung observatory, which is representative of Delhi, recorded 153 mm of rainfall between Saturday and Sunday morning. The city is expected to get light to moderate rain again on Monday and a yellow alert has been issued.

In Gurgaon, the administration appealed to people to not leave their house unless for essential work. Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav also asked companies based in the city to advise their staff, except those involved in essential services, to work from home on Monday so that water can be removed from roads as soon as the rain stops.

In an advisory, the DC said: “Since Sunday morning, Gurugram has experienced heavy and continuous rainfall and there is a prediction for heavy rainfall tomorrow (Monday) as well. The significant rainfall and the continuous forecast raise concerns regarding waterlogging, tree falling and disruption in civic amenities in several areas of the district. While civic authorities are actively working to address the situation, it is essential to exercise caution and minimise travel during such conditions as waterlogging can disrupt the smooth flow of traffic and pose risks to public safety.”

He further stated, “All corporate offices and private institutions in the district are advised to guide their employees to work from home on 10 July so that traffic congestion can be avoided and repair/restoration of civic amenities can be carried out smoothly by government agencies.”

In Faridabad, apart from schools, all coaching centres will also remain closed on Monday, the district administration said. DC Vikram Singh has appealed to employees of all private institutions to work from home.

School wall collapses, Atishi orders audit

Amid the incessant rain, a portion of a Delhi government school in Sriniwaspuri, near East of Kailash, collapsed – triggering an attack against the Delhi government by the opposition BJP and Congress.

Education minister Atishi has ordered a physical inspection of schools to ensure they are in good shape. “As we are aware that during the last few days, the city has faced continuous heavy rainfall and it might have affected the conditions of government school buildings. It is directed that all Regional Directors, Deputy Director of Education – Zones and District — Principals and Vice-Principals must conduct physical inspection of all government schools under their jurisdiction today and ensure that on opening of schools tomorrow, no such deficiencies are found which may cause problems for the security of the school children,” the order stated.

It added that a compliance report be submitted by Sunday night. “In case any deficiencies or serious problems are found, then the (areas) should be cordoned off to avoid any mishappening,” the order said.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva also visited the school, which happens to be in Atishi’s constituency, and said it was constructed recently and had collapsed due to poor construction quality. “A big disaster could have happened if children were in school at the time of the incident,” he said.