A night of relentless monsoon rain in Delhi turned fatal in the early hours of Saturday when a wall in Hari Nagar, Jaitpur, collapsed, crushing eight people to death, including two children.
Police said the victims were residents of makeshift jhuggies adjacent to an old temple. The deceased, as of now, have been identified as two seven-year-old girls, Ravi Bul (27), Rubina (25), Safiqul from Assam (27), Muttus from West Bengal (50), and Doli from Assam (28). One person, Hasibul (25), who had sustained injuries and was undergoing treatment, has been reported dead.
The wall collapse, triggered by heavy overnight rain, trapped eight people inside their fragile dwellings. Rescue teams managed to extricate the victims, rushing them to hospital, where seven were declared dead, while one sustained severe injuries. Authorities have since evacuated the cluster of jhuggies to avert further tragedy.
"There is an old temple here, and next to it are old jhuggies where scrap dealers live. The wall collapsed due to heavy rain overnight. We have now evacuated these jhuggies so that no such incidents occur in future," senior police officer Aishwarya Sharma said.
The incident was initially reported as a building collapse, but further investigation revealed it was the temple’s boundary wall that had given way under the force of waterlogged soil.
Wall and building collapses are a recurring hazard during Delhi’s monsoon season, especially in low-income settlements where temporary housing abuts ageing structures with poor drainage and weakened foundations. Civic bodies have repeatedly warned of such risks, but overcrowding and lack of safe housing keep vulnerable populations in harm’s way.
Also read: Death of 4: Panel seeks report on Hisar wall collapse
Capital lashed by rain
Heavy and continuous rain brought Delhi to a standstill on Saturday morning, leaving several areas waterlogged and traffic severely disrupted. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert as the city was lashed by overnight downpours since Friday night.
In the 24 hours till 8.30 am, Delhi’s primary weather station at Safdarjung recorded 78.7 mm of rainfall, while Pragati Maidan registered 100 mm, Lodhi Road 80 mm, Pusa 69 mm, and Palam 31.8 mm. The downpour provided relief from heat and humidity but inundated key stretches, including Panchkuian Marg, Mathura Road, the road outside Bharat Mandapam, and the Ghazipur border, where knee-deep water forced vehicles and pedestrians to wade through flooded streets.
The Yamuna in Delhi inched close to the warning level of 204.50 metres, prompting agencies to monitor low-lying areas for potential flooding.
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