Two dead as storm, rain lash Capital

Gusty winds damage finial of main dome, other parts of Jama Masjid

Heavy rain accompanied by winds gusting over 70-80 kmph lashed the Capital on Monday, leaving two persons dead and eight injured.

As many as 294 calls regarding uprooting of trees in various parts of the city were received till 8 p.m. on Monday, the police said. Lutyens’ Delhi with its tree-lined avenues was worst hit as fallen trees and branches caused a gridlock that lasted several hours.

In a span of 2.5 hours, the weather station at Safdarjung received 17.8 mm of rain while Lodhi Road received 20 mm of rain. The showers, however, were not evenly distributed across the city as Palam received only 0.4 mm of rain and areas like Najafgarh and Pitampura remained dry.

The storm killed Kailash Chand, 50, when a shuttering collapsed on him in Vakilpura, Jama Masjid, DCP (Central) Shweta Chauhan said. Another death was reported from north Delhi’s Angoori Bagh where Basir Baba, 65, died at Trauma Centre after being rescued from under an uprooted tree, DCP (north) Sagar Singh Kalsi said. Two persons also rescued from same spot sustained injuries, he added.

The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, said that along with the finial of the main dome, some other parts of the mosque also came off in the storm and there was an urgent need to repair the structure.

Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena took to Twitter to state that he was “distressed” by the sight of uprooted treesfollowing the sudden downpour.

The IMD has forecast partly cloudy sky with possibility of very light rain/thundershowers towards afternoon/evening on Tuesday with the maximum and minimum temperatures settling between 40 and 25 degrees Celsius, respectively.