A tragic incident unfolded in Faridabad on Friday night, claiming the lives of a bank manager and a cashier who drowned in a flooded underpass. Punyashreya Sharma, manager of the HDFC Bank branch in Sector 31, Gurugram, and Viraj Dwivedi, a cashier at the same branch, were driving home to Faridabad in a Mahindra XUV700 when they encountered the flooded underpass.
Despite warnings of heavy rain and flooding, the XUV 700 entered the underpass, only to get trapped in the rising waters. The floodwater quickly overwhelmed the vehicle, forcing the two men to attempt to escape by swimming to safety. Sadly, both men drowned in the deep water.
Sharma’s wife, unable to reach him by phone, set out with another person to find him and Dwivedi. When their vehicle became submerged, Sharma’s body was eventually recovered from the SUV, while Dwivedi’s body was found after an extensive search at 4 a.m. on Saturday. Police officials confirmed that the cashier, Viraj Dwivedi, died at the scene.
The incident occurred during a period of heavy rainfall in Delhi and the NCR region. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an ‘Orange’ alert for the area, predicting heavy rainfall on Friday, September 13, 2024. The torrential downpour caused widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions across the NCR, with areas like Hero Honda Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, and IFFCO Chowk in Gurugram experiencing significant traffic jams and flooding.
IMD data revealed that Delhi recorded over 1,000 mm of rainfall this month, the highest since 2021 and the second highest in at least a decade. This incident serves as a grim reminder of the dangers associated with venturing into flood-affected areas and underscores the importance of heeding warnings and exercising caution during heavy rains.
