NHRC issues notice to authorities on recent rain-related deaths

The NHRC’s action comes in response to media reports indicating that at least 13 lives were lost in the Delhi-NCR region, including six due to electrocution and four due to drowning in overflowing drains amid heavy rain, “magnifying the creaky infrastructure and civic negligence.”

The NHRC has expressed concern over what it described as “negligence by the civic authorities,” which it believes highlights significant issues in infrastructure and civic management.

The Commission’s suo motu cognizance of these reports follows similar recent instances of negligence resulting in tragic losses. Notices have been issued to various officials, including the Delhi chief secretary, DDA vice chairman, Delhi police commissioner, and district magistrates in Gurugram and Gautam Budh Nagar, seeking detailed reports on the incidents within four weeks.

 The reports should cover the status of FIRs, actions taken against responsible officials, compensation provided to the victims’ families, and measures to prevent future occurrences, said the country’s top rights body.

Recent incidents include a 23-year-old woman who drowned with her three-year-old son in an overflowing drain in east Delhi’s Ghazipur, a 12-year-old boy electrocuted in Dwarka, and several other deaths from drowning and electrocution in Gurugram and Uttar Pradesh following heavy rains on July 31. The NHRC said its inquiry aims to address these serious human rights violations and ensure accountability and improved safety measures.

Giving details of the report, carried on August 2, the NHRC noted that most of these deaths happened after heavy rain on July 31.

“A 23-year-old woman, holding her three-year-old son’s hand, slipped into an overflowing drain in east Delhi’s Ghazipur area on July 31 and died. Reportedly, the rescue operation for them was delayed over a “jurisdictional dispute” between the police of Delhi and Ghaziabad,” the statement said.

“Another incident occurred in the Dwarka area of Delhi when a 12-year-old boy playing in a waterlogged area got electrocuted while “iIn two separate incidents in Gurugram, Haryana, a 44-year-old man reportedly drowned in a stormwater drain in Bhondsi and three pedestrians were electrocuted while walking on a waterlogged road near IIFCO Chowk.

“An elderly couple died in the Ambedkar Nagar colony of Dadri, Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh as a wall collapsed on their make-shift accommodation due to heavy rain,” it added.