Jaipur: At least six people died in a wall collapse and due to electrocution as heavy rains lashed the Rajasthan capital overnight, officials said Wednesday.
The rains created havoc as over 100 colonies in low-lying areas and the walled city were inundated, they said. The district administration announced a holiday for all government and private schools Wednesday.
Heavy rains, that began lashing the city from 11 p.m. Tuesday, were estimated at 148.4 mm Wednesday morning.
With the rains continuing for nearly four hours, people spent a sleepless night as water gushed into their houses, damaging belongings.
In several slum areas, people were forced to take shelter on rooftops. Commissioner of Police B.L. Soni said the rains had so far claimed four lives.
However, a police officer said two children were buried alive after a wall collapsed in Bhatta Basti.
“Two people were electrocuted in Sodala, while two children were reportedly swept away in Ghat Ki Guni,” the officer said. Soni said police were being rushed to the affected areas.
“Some social organisations have arranged about 5,000 food packets for the affected people,” he said.
Mayor Jyoti Khandelwal told reporters that markets in the walled city and the slum areas in Jawahar Nagar, Shashtri Nagar and Sodala were the worst-affected.
“All senior officials and disaster management staff of Jaipur Municipal Corporation are in the field assessing the situation and pumping water out of the inundated colonies,” said Khandelwal. (IANS)
But residents complained of poor management by JMC.
“Rains have been continuing for one week. However, municipal officials did not take precautionary measures,” Shilpa Kumawat, living in the low-lying Johari Bazaar said.
She and her family have been trying to pump accumulated water out of their house since morning.
Electricity supply too had snapped in almost half of the city in the morning due to the rain. (IANS)