A 32-year-old man was killed on Monday after falling into an open drain in the Rohini area of Delhi. The incident came to light nearly a day later — with officials mounting an elaborate rescue effort. The development also comes amid continued outrage over the death of a 25-year-old motorcyclist who fell into a pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board.
Officials said they had received a call around 2:36 pm on Tuesday — reporting a missing person who may have fallen into the sewer on vacant DDA land. The body of the labourer was eventually recovered from a manhole.
“A team from the Begumpur police station immediately rushed to the spot. The caller, Amir Hussain, a resident of Bihar, told the police that his friend Birju Kumar Rai (32), a labourer, was missing since Monday,” a senior police officer said.
What exactly happened?
“A few people were passing through here. They informed us upon we reached the spot. A few people of Begumpur PS were present here. There was no Fire Brigade here…100 was dialled here and Fire Brigade was informed. When they arrived here at 7.15 pm and were questioned, they said they had no information about the same…Officials are being negligent…A private ambulance was called and then the body was taken away,” social worker, Mahesh Kumar told news agency ANI.
“The incident occurred yesterday…After coming here, we saw that DDA officers came here and brought manhole covers with them. They were covering open drains in haste…Only a beat officer was here at that time, private tankers were here as well. When they were questioned, they told us that the department is still on the way – even when they were called up at 4 pm…I dialled 112 and within 15 minutes the entire department turned up here…The body was recovered around 8-8.30 pm,” added another individual present at the spot.
Second incident in 4 days
The incident occurred days after the death of a 25-year-old motorcyclist, Kamal Dhyani, who fell into a 15-feet-deep pit in the Janakpuri area on February 6.