Delhi: Rain wreaks havoc, trees uprooted, cars damaged, man dies in Jama Masjid

New Delhi: Monday afternoon rain in Delhi NCR caused damage to life and property. It also uprooted several trees, bringing traffic to a standstill.

"A 50-year-old man from Delhi's Jama Masjid area died after a balcony fell over him in the aftermath of hailstorm and rain in Delhi. No foul play suspected so far," said Delhi Police.

The finial of the historic Jama Masjid suffered damage in a storm. According to Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, two people were injured by stones as they became loose and fell down from one of the minarets.

"Middle dome finial broke into three parts, two fell down, one is still stuck. If not brought down and it falls, it'll damage the wall before it. I'm writing to ASI DG to bring down the damaged portion," said Syed Ahmed Bukhari.

Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal has instructed officials to take immediate steps to clear roads. He tweeted pictures and wrote, "Distressed by the sight of uprooted trees, fallen branches and waterlogging at places after the early evening storm. Visited a few places. Instructed officials to take immediate steps to remove debris and clear the roads immediately so as to mitigate the inconvenience to people."

On Twitter, Hemant Rajaura, a journalist shared a picture of a red car whose front windshield was pierced by a large metal object towards the driver's side near KG Marg in Connaught Place.

Installed air conditioners fell down from a building in the Parliament Street area. Several trees were also uprooted and fell on cars and autorickshaws in the heavy rain and thunderstorm earlier this evening.

A car was trapped under an uprooted tree in Connaught Place as the national capital received sudden rainfall accompanied by a hailstorm. The car was unoccupied and was in the parking lot.

Heavy rain and thunderstorm toppled the canopy at Vijay Chowk.

A bus was trapped under an uprooted tree in the aftermath of a hailstorm in Delhi, causing traffic snarls near Sanchar Bhawan.

Eights flights were diverted to Jaipur, Lucknow, Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, and Dehradun due to bad weather, Delhi airport sources said.
A huge uprooted tree fell on the BJP MP Parvesh Verma's car on Janpath, smashing the windshield and damaging the roof.

"Squally winds of 100 kmph were reported at Safdarjung. Following the heavy rainfall and thunderstorm, the temperature drops by around 13 degrees at Palam and by around 16 degrees at Safdarjung. Between 4.20 pm and 5.40 pm, the temperature fell from 40 degrees Celsius to 25 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung," said India Meteorological Department. (ANI)