Delhi rains: CM calls meeting; Delhi schools to remain shut; auto driver, woman killed

The woman died in a wall collapse while the auto rickshaw driver died after a tree fell on his vehicle caused by the record-breaking downpour in the national capital on Sunday.

New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called a meeting at the Secretariat on Monday, July 10 afternoon, in the wake of the situation in the city due to incessant heavy rainfall. Ministers Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, and concerned officers will attend the meeting. The rise in the level of river Yamuna will also be discussed in the meeting.

As heavy rains lash the national capital, all schools in Delhi and its adjoining NCR cities of Gurugram and Noida have been closed for Monday in view of heavy rains in the region, officials said. Widespread torrential downpours have been witnessed in most parts of north and northwest India, including the national capital region, since Saturday, leading to waterlogging, flash floods, house collapses, and human fatalities.

On Sunday, Kejriwal said a communication has been sent to the head of schools in the city, to keep all government and private schools shut for students on Monday. However, teachers were asked to report to schools as usual.

The record-breaking downpour the city saw during the day triggered multiple rain-related accidents across the capital. A 49-year-old autorickshaw driver was killed after a tree fell on his vehicle while a 30-year-old woman died of a wall collapse following heavy rain in the national capital on Sunday, officials said. They said five others including two boys were injured in separate incidents.

The auto driver suffered grievous injuries while he was in his vehicle in Rohini when a tree fell on his auto, officials said. The 49-year-old identified as Rajender was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. The tree fall was reported near the Rohini Sports Complex bus stop in Sector-9, which falls under the jurisdiction of Prashant Vihar Police Station.

Rajender's body was sent to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, mortuary for post-mortem, a senior police official said. The victim lived in Sector-16, Rohini. In another incident, Priti, a resident of Sonepat's Gannaur, was killed when a dilapidated portion of a wall of a veterinary hospital collapsed on her in the Subzi Mandi area, police said. Priti was with a girl, who too sustained wounds when she came under the wall.