The Delhi government has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of individuals who drowned due to heavy rainfall on June 28. Minister Atishi confirmed that the revenue department is instructed to expedite the compensation process in collaboration with area hospitals and Delhi Police. Delhi on Friday was lashed by record-breaking rains, an extreme weather event, which according to meteorologists, the forecasting models “failed” to predict, taking residents by surprise and bringing life to a halt in the national capital as roads across the city became waterlogged.
On Saturday, three people, including two minor boys, drowned in the waterlogged section at an underpass in two separate areas of the city. According to the police, two boys drowned in SP Badali area of northwest Delhi near the Siraspur underpass near the metro, which was flooded with 2.5-3 feet of water on Saturday afternoon. A senior officer said the police received a call about the incident at around 2:25 PM and a team was immediately rushed to the spot. The police team conducted a search operation, and with the help of a fire brigade, they recovered the bodies, the officer said. One of the boys is a resident of Siraspur, while the identity of the other one is yet to be ascertained, he said. Prima facie, it appeared to be a case of suspected drowning while the boys were taking a bath, police said, adding the bodies of the deceased have been shifted to Babu Jagjeevan Ram Hospital. A similar incident occurred in the Okhla Industrial Area on Friday at 6 am, where a 60-year-old man drowned in the waterlogged section of the underpass, said the police. During investigation, it was found that the victim, Digvijay Kumar Chaudhary, (60), a resident of Jaitpur, was riding on a scooter when he was trapped in the waterlogged section during the heavy rains on Friday, they said.