Mithun Reddy, a resident of the NRI Colony in Pragathi Nagar, slipped into an overflowing open drain outside his residence on Tuesday morning.
Published Sep 05, 2023 | 9:06 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 05, 2023 | 9:07 PM
In a second such tragedy this year, a four-year-old boy died after falling into an overflowing open drain amidst incessant rains in the Pragathi Nagar area of Bachupally in Hyderabad on Tuesday, 5 September.
The body of the boy, identified as Mithun Reddy, was recovered from the city’s Turka Cheruvu after over six hours of work by the Disaster Response Forces (DRF), the police told South First.
Mithun was a resident of the NRI Colony and had gone out to play with his friends after the government declared a holiday for schools on Tuesday.
In the CCTV footage of the incident that went viral on social media, Mithun could be seen walking out of his building behind an elderly man at 11.31 am.
As soon as the boy stepped into the street, he lost his balance and fell into the overflowing drain. The locals who noticed the mishap tried to save him but failed as the water flow was heavy.
As #Hyderabad witnessed incessant rain on 5 September morning, tragedy struck Pragathi Nagar when a four-year-old kid fell in into a flooded drain.
The police and disaster response team were unable to trace the kid even five hours after the incident. pic.twitter.com/6xAfLd5EUu
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) September 5, 2023
“Since it was a holiday, the boy was at home instead of going to school. At around 11.20 am, he left home and came downstairs. The family assumed that he must have been in one of the neighbours’ flats, but when he did not return even after 12 pm, they started searching for him,” Kukatpally Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) P Shiva Bhaskar told South First.
“As he was nowhere to be found, they checked footage from the CCTV located at the main gate, where they found that the boy had fallen into the drain outside their apartment,” the ACP added.
The Bachupally police rushed to the spot and started efforts to trace the body along with the DRF teams from the Nizampet Municipal Corporation, who were assisted by two teams of the GHMC’s Enforcement Vigilance & Disaster Management (EV&DM) Directorate.
After carrying out rescue operations throughout the afternoon, the DRF teams succeeded in finding the body at 6 pm from the Turka Cheruvu, which is around 3 km away from Mithun’s house.
A case under Section 174 (police to inquire) of the IPC was registered after the parents of the boy lodged a complaint at the Bachupally Police Station and the body was sent for post-mortem examination to Gandhi Hospital.
Mithun is survived by his parents Santhosh and Divya Reddy and an elder sister. The family hails from the Suryapet district.
Residents in the neighbourhood told South First that during rainfall, people residing in the three apartments — including Mithun’s — could hardly move along the street as it, along with the parking area, gets heavily inundated.
“There is a boundary wall of an under-construction site adjacent to the apartment, from where water seeps into the lane. We raised multiple complaints with the concerned government departments, but no action was taken. During heavy rains, we residents take up the job of clearing the waterlogging,” said a resident on the condition of anonymity.
South First tried to reach Nizampet Municipal Commissioner Ramakrishna Rao, but the calls made to him went unanswered.
After more than six hours of rescue by @DRFEVDM and @MC_Nizampet, the mortal remains of the boy were recovered. pic.twitter.com/8XUeZoMFbp
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) September 5, 2023
There have been similar incidents this year as well as the past years where citizens died after falling into open manholes or drains.
On 29 April, 2023, a fourth-grade student named Mounica, who went to fetch groceries from a nearby shop, fell into an open drain in Secunderabad’s Kalasiguda area.
According to an eyewitness, whose video went viral on social media, Mounica was with her elder brother when the incident happened, and fell while trying to save her brother.
Open drain in which Mounica fell. (Supplied)
This triggered a public outrage, after which the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) acknowledged the negligence of its staff and suspended the assistant executive engineer who was in charge of the area, as well as another official.
GHMC Mayor Vijaya Lakshmi Gadwal announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh while the Telangana government announced financial assistance of ₹5 lakh.
Meanwhile, parts of Hyderabad have received heavy rainfall in the past few days and even early morning on Tuesday.
Some areas recorded heavy rainfall causing flooding of roads and water logging in several places, which has been the case in past months as well.
Videos of cars moving through flowing water and disrupted traffic movement on roads have been circulating on social media.
In September 2021, a techie named G Rajinikanth (40) fell into a stormwater drain and was washed away after a downpour in Manikonda.
According to reports, the incident was similar to Mounica’s as there was no barricade at the spot nor a signboard to alert people of the ongoing work. Rajinikanth was survived by his wife and two school-going children.
In 2020, a 12-year-old girl who went on a joyride on her bicycle was caught in sudden rain and drowned after falling into an open drain. Her body was fished out of a nearby lake in Neredmet.
In another incident, a pregnant woman died after slipping and falling into an open drain in Secunderabad.
