Flood-related death: Three minors drowned while taking a bath in floodwaters in northwest Delhi's Mukundpur Chowk area on Friday (July 14), the officials said.
The deceased boys, identified as Nikhil (10), Piyush (13) and Ashish (13), hailed from northeast Delhi's Jahangirpuri. These are the first deaths to be reported in the Delhi floods.
Soon after the receipt of the information at 2.25 pm, the fire department rushed a fire tender to the spot, officials said.
“Three children drowned in a ditch at a metro construction site. They were pulled out and rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, where doctors declared them brought dead,” Delhi Fire Services Director Atul Garg said.
Parts of Delhi have been inundated after the Yamuna breached its banks following days of heavy rains in the city and the upper catchment areas, prompting the evacuation of thousands from low-lying areas.
Yamuna swells in Delhi
The Yamuna in Delhi swelled to 207.71 metres on Wednesday, breaching its all-time record of 207.49 metres set in 1978.
On Thursday, the water level had started rising after remaining stable for three hours and reached 208.66 metres by 7 pm, three metres above the danger mark of 205.33 metres.
The water levels started receding on Friday and had come down to 208.17 metres at 6 pm, according to the Central Water Commission.
On Thursday late at night, Yamuna flood water reached close to the Supreme Court. Tilak Marg area near the Supreme Court was flooded.
Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the government has directed the chief secretary to take up the matter of the damage to the regulator on priority and resolve the problem. “Whole night, our teams worked to fix the damage at the regulator of drain no. 12 near the WHO building. Still, the water of Yamuna is entering the city through this breach. The government has directed the chief secretary to take it up on highest priority,” he said in a tweet.
Several posh areas, including the secretariat which houses the offices of the chief minister as well as his cabinet colleagues, were flooded on Thursday. On Friday morning visuals showed Rajghat submerged in water.
Waterlogging was also reported in ITO, near Kashmere Gate and other prominent roads. Due to the overflowing Yamuna, people are facing problems.
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