Ghaziabad: 27-year-old fell in drain, alleges police and civic apathy

The man was on his way to get a burger when he lost balance while reversing his scooter and plunged into a 7-8 feet deep drain, said police

A 27-year-old man narrowly escaped severe injuries after falling into a drain in Indirapuram on Thursday morning. The victim alleged negligence on part of the municipal corporation and police.

A man on a two-wheeler fell in an open drain in Indirapuram on Thursday. (HT PHOTO)

The man, who requested not to be identified, is a resident of a locality under the Khoda police station area. He was on his way to get a burger when he lost balance while reversing his scooter and plunged into a drain, approximately 7-8 feet deep.

“I managed to grab some projection in the drain. Later, a security guard helped me get out with a wooden ladder. I immediately called up the police, who called up local officials of the corporation. However, no one came to assist. I even submitted a complaint against the corporation, but the police refused to take it up,” the victim said.

He said he had to arrange for a tow-away vehicle to pull out the scooter about 90 minutes after the accident and that he spent ₹9,000 to recover and repair his scooter.

He said he lost his phone and sustained injuries, including a strain in the back. “I also fell ill after swallowing contaminated water. If the scooter had landed on me, it would have been fatal,” he added.

The victim had suffered fractures to his leg during an incident about one-and-half years ago which possibly was the reason for losing balance on the scooter. He said, “I could not take up surgery because of the cost. I am the only earning member in the family.”

He said that his videos have gone viral, but no one is bothered that such an incident could have taken a serious turn, and even the open portions of the drain near Kala Patthar could lead to any major mishap in the future.

The municipal corporation on Thursday claimed that the drain opened on July 27 for cleaning after a heavy downpour and later got it barricaded. However, some unidentified persons removed the barricading. “The drain is covered by slabs and also properly cemented in places by local shopkeepers. The cemented portion is used by them to park vehicles. We had barricaded the cut-off portions of the drain, but the barricading was removed. So, a police complaint is given by our local officials against persons who removed the barricading,” said NK Chaudhary, chief engineer of the corporation.

He said a formal complaint was registered against unidentified persons for removing the barricade at the Indirapuram police station.

Officials said that an inquiry is underway to ascertain the cause of the incident and the persons responsible.

Meanwhile, the police said that an inquiry was taken up on a complaint given by the corporation on Friday. “As regards the victim, we did not receive any complaint from him. However, we will get it checked,” said Abhishek Srivastava, ACP of the Indirapuram circle.

Priti Jain, the local councillor of ward 99 of Vaibhav Khand 1 said that the corporation must issue notices to the local shop owners.“They covered the drain in order to make parking provision for their vehicles. The corporation should serve them notices and get iron grilles installed. These grilles will be helpful and can easily be removed when drains need to be cleaned. I will pursue the issue with the corporation officials,” Jain added.