New Delhi, Aug 1 (PTI) Thursday, August 1, was going to be Priyansh’s first day at school. All necessities and formalities were completed, and only thing remaining was a uniform.
His mother went to the market Wednesday evening to purchase him one. But that uniform would never be worn, that school path would never be walked! They drowned in a half-open under construction drain in a waterlogged street as heavy rains pelted down on Delhi-NCR Wednesday evening.
The mother was still holding her son in her arms when rescuers recovered them metres away from where they slipped into the drain in the Khoda Colony in the Ghazipur area of east Delhi.
“Tanuja is my sister-in-law. Priyansh was recently enrolled into a nearby school and she had gone to a market to buy a dress for him since his classes were about to start from Thursday. However, they drowned into an open drain which was waterlogged,” said Karan Bisht.
“When the authorities took out them from the drain, they declared the mother dead then and there. While they said Priyansh had one per cent chance to survive. He also lost his life soon,” Karan said.
Another relative said Tanuja was with her sister-in-law Pinky and her two kids when the incident took place.
“I was at the hospital with my daughter-in-law. They (Tanuja and Pinky) had first gone to Mayur Vihar Phase-3 to visit their relatives. It was raining and they kept waiting for the rains to stop. However, when it did not stop for a while, Tanuja left for her residence. Pinky first asked her to wait, but when Tanuja insisted, Pinky also followed her.
“Tanuja was holding Priyansh and a bag in her hands. When they fell in the drain, Pinky also jumped in to save them. Locals pulled Pinky out as she had her hands abovr the water, but they could not find Tanuja’s hands since she was holding her son,” the relative said.
Finally, when the authorities found her three hours later and pulled her out of the drain, she was holding her kid, said the relative.
Tanuja and Govind got married in 2018 in Almora district of Uttarakhand and they have been living at Khoda along with Tanuja’s father. Govind has a private job in Noida, while Tanuja was a homemaker.
Karan also alleged, “When the incident happened, my relatives told me that there was initially a fight between Delhi Police and UP Police related to the jurisdiction. However, it was later decided that the drain falls under the jurisdiction of Delhi.” Manish Katariya (31), an eyewitness, said the victims were recovered from several metres away from the spot where they drowned.
“I was present when the incident took place. The whole area was waterlogged and the slab over the drain also submerged. A portion of the drain was not covered. This is around 10-feet-deep drain and the covering work is underway for the last one week.
“Another woman was also with the victim. They fell into the drain here. They were found away from the manhole as the drain was flowing. The drain falls under Delhi and where the family lives comes under Uttar Pradesh,” Katariya stated.
The incident took place around 8 pm near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under-construction.
Hemant Suri, a Khoda Colony resident , said, “I received a call from my uncle that such incident took place in the area. I rushed to the spot and found that a woman and her son drowned in the drain. The officials of Ghazibad Police, fire and civic agency reached the spot. The incident took place around 8 pm and the bodies were recovered around 11 pm.” Govind has four brothers and his parents live in Almora. After the post-mortem, they will take the bodies to Almora for cremation, Karan said.
Mahesh Kumar, a local, said the waterlogging in the area is very common during the rainy season.
“This incident is very tragic. We have been living here in such state where we all are vulnerable to become the victim of such incidents. I hope that the authorities learn something from this and take appropriate steps in order to prevent such incidents,” Kumar said. PTI NIT TIR TIR
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