A video surfaced on social media showing Councillor Nazia Danish on the ground, personally working to cordon off a dangerously rain-weakened stretch of road on Thursday. Days of relentless downpour had softened the surface, causing it to sink and threatening to turn into a serious hazard.
Just hours later, the situation worsened and a portion of the busy road caved in, leaving a gaping crater on the busy Jamia Millia Islamia outer road, a crucial link to Batla House and beyond. Later Nazia Danish turned up on the spot and said: “From here up to the footpath, the ground is completely hollow underneath. The ground will sink, but as you saw in the earlier live location, water has collected here, and because of this water, the whole surface has caved in. There’s no support structure.”
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After her video went viral, Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan’s aide, Sibghatullah, announced that the caved-in road had been repaired by the MLA’s team in record time. While many praised the swift response, several netizens urged that repairs be executed with greater durability to prevent such incidents in the future, warning that recurring cave-ins could one day lead to a serious mishap that on a busy road.
Earlier in the day, Councillor Nazia Danish was spotted covering a roadside pit — a precautionary move before the weakened patch later gave way completely, transforming into a huge crater. “She placed large stones around it so that bikers and vehicle drivers might not step over it. Also she barricaded the area for safety,” said Nazia’s aide Wajid.
“Before any major accident happens, we request MLA Amanatullah Khan of Okhla and the PWD of Delhi Government to take action as soon as possible, because this is a main road. Thousands of people pass through here daily. Before a major accident occurs I request you to please take action quickly,” he said.
“I was just passing through here, and I saw this huge pit. God forbid, if an accident happens… I want to tell the concerned authorities to come here and take immediate action. For now, I’ve done whatever I could from my side. The barricades were standing over there and I’ve brought them here and placed them. And I want to tell the officials: Come here and take action before anyone becomes victim to a serious accident,” said Zakir Nagar Councillor.
She said the pit was at least five feet deep.
As heavy rain lashed Delhi today, large parts of the city were left grappling with waterlogging and traffic snarls. In one tragic incident in Okhla’s neighbourhood in Kalkaji area, a roadside tree came crashing down on several vehicles, including a motorcycle carrying a man and his young daughter. The impact proved fatal for the man, while his daughter was critically injured.
CCTV footage captured the harrowing moment the massive neem tree, just inches from the footpath, suddenly uprooted and toppled onto unsuspecting commuters. Another video from the scene showed the girl trapped between the fallen tree and the mangled bike, as bystanders some clutching umbrellas rushed to free her and her father.
Police said both victims were rushed to hospital, where the father succumbed to his injuries. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Hemant Tiwari confirmed the incident occurred around 9:50 am outside HDFC Bank near Paras Chowk, when the decades-old roadside tree abruptly gave way.
