The Jubilee Hills incident comes close on the heels of a 10-year-old girl drowning in an open drain in Kalasiguda in Secunderabad.
The rainwater-filled pit where Vivek died (left), and Vivek (marked in yellow box) with his family. (Supplied)
In yet another rain-hit tragedy, a six-year-old boy drowned on Tuesday, 2 May, in Hyderabad after falling in an open pit said to be “filled with rainwater”.
When South First visited the spot, it found that the litter-filled pit (around 10-15 feet deep) was mostly fenced, except at the corner from where the boy was suspected to have entered it.
While the owner of the plot lives away, it is maintained by a family of tenants.
The rainwater-filled pit where Vivek died. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
The victim was identified as Vivek, a native of the Kakinada district of Andhra Pradesh, who just started Class 2 in a nearby government school.
His father Bheemshankar works as a watchman at the Royal Enfield Service Centre adjacent to the plot where Vivek drowned in a pit.
It should be noted that this is the third rain-related death in four days in Hyderabad.
In the first incident on 29 April, a 10-year-old girl fell into an open drain in Secunderabad’s Kalasiguda reportedly due to negligence of the civic authorities.
On 30 April, a Greyhounds (a special force unit of Telangana police) constable died of electrocution at the Jubilee Hills Checkpost.
Locals and other people gathered outside Vivek’s home, adjacent to the plot where he died. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
Vivek used to live with his parents and 11-year-old sister Lalitha in their house right behind the aforementioned Royal Enfield Service Centre.
The house was filled with relatives mourning his death on Tuesday.
“Every day, he and some of his friends used to go to the plot and play there. They went to play today morning as well. There is no clear indication of whether he slipped or how he fell inside the dug hole,” both locals and DCP West Zone Joel Davis told South First.
As per the locals, the hole was dug to collect wastewater and was filled with water due to the showers in the city over the past few days.
“Vivek lost his grip and fell into the hole when he tried to climb the stick on it,” one local resident told South First.
After his friends informed the family, Vivek’s father and others pulled the body out.
“Though we tried many ways including CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) to bring him to life, he did not respond. He had already died,” a local said.
Denying responsibility for Tuesday’s incident, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Jubilee Hills Deputy Commissioner G Rajanikanth Reddy told South First, “The area is private property and does not fall under GHMC jurisdiction.”
The plot where Vivek died. On the rightmost corner of the entrance is the rainwater-filled pit. (Ajay Tomar/South First)
Rajashekhar, a friend of Vivek’s father, told South First, “The owner runs a business nearby. It’s their responsibility to come forward and financially assist the grieving family.”
As per the tenants, neither the owner nor his manager had communicated with them regarding the boy’s death.
While the body was sent to Osmania Hospital for post-mortem examination, the locals protested, demanding the police return the body without it.
“He was a small boy. We don’t want the doctors to cut his body,” a grieving relative told South First.
While the Jubilee Hills police confirmed to South First that a case under Section 174 of the CrPC (police to investigate) has been registered, no case against the owner of the plot where Vivek died has been taken up so far.
In the Kalasiguda incident, Mounika, a fourth-grade student, went to fetch groceries from a nearby shop with her brother.
Eyewitness and the Mahankali police recounted that she fell while trying to save her brother and was washed away.
The open drain where Mounika (10) fell (left), and rescue personnel taking her body away. (Supplied)
Her body was later retrieved from the drain by the Disaster Response Force (DRF) of the GHMC.
Claiming negligence, the GHMC suspended Assistant Executive Engineer M Thirumalaiah, who was in charge of the area, as well as another official — Work Inspector BM Hari Krishna.
In the other incident, Greyhounds constable Solem Veeraswamy (44) was heading home after dropping his brother at 1st Battalion TSSP in Yousufguda.
On reaching the Jubilee Hills Checkpost, the constable lost control of his motorcycle near pillar number 1597 and fell.
It is suspected that he might have fallen in a puddle of rainwater on the road that was exposed to a faulty electric leakage from a pole nearby.
The cops also tried CPR but he could not be revived and was declared “brought dead” when taken to a hospital.
There have been similar incidents over the past few years where citizens have died after falling into open manholes or drains in Hyderabad.
Across social media, several citizens posted pictures of open pits and manholes in their neighbourhoods.
In September 2021, techie 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 Mounika’s as there was no barricade at the spot nor a signboard to alert people of the ongoing work. Rajnikanth was survived by his wife and two schoolgoing children
In 2020, a 12-year-old girl who went out on a joyride on her bicycle was caught in sudden rain and drowned after falling into an open drain. Her body was later 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.
Since 20 days @HMWSSBOnline water works have dig this and ignoring to repair this and didn’t even keep any barrigate no precautions were taken public life is at risk @MutaGopal @chary_bjym @KTRBRS @KTRoffice
Location at sreeker Tiffin centre Brindavan colony pic.twitter.com/dLT6qJ7oCF— Panneeru Teja (@Panneeruteja1) April 29, 2023
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