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Two lives lost, drains still open: Civic promises drown in Lucknow’s monsoon waters
Two lives have been lost in 11 months, both swallowed by uncovered drains during monsoon rains. Yet the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) remains locked in a cycle of inaction and statements. Civic responsibility has not extended beyond ropes tied post-tragedy and press conferences delivered with urgency that fades as fast as the floodwaters.
After the death of Suresh on Saturday, as grey clouds loomed over Lucknow and rainwater swirled through its narrow lanes, HT revisited a forgotten stretch in Wazirganj where a six-year-old girl had vanished into an open drain in September last year. The sky was overcast and the streets damp with recent rain, but the drain where the child had fallen remained uncovered and unattended. Signs of civic neglect were still visible.
Nearly a year had passed, yet no substantial work appeared to have been done. The assurances made at the time seem to have faded with the passing months.
Two lives have been lost in 11 months, both swallowed by uncovered drains during monsoon rains. Yet the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) remains locked in a cycle of inaction and statements. Civic responsibility has not extended beyond ropes tied post-tragedy and press conferences delivered with urgency that fades as fast as the floodwaters.
In the latest case, 43-year-old daily wage painter Suresh slipped into a waterlogged, uncovered drain in Thakurganj around 7 am on July 12, 2025. Heavy rain had turned the narrow bylanes into fast-flowing channels. Rescue efforts failed. His body was recovered the next day, over a kilometre away near the Shantinagar intersection, bruised, bloated, and ignored until it was too late.
In 2024, a six-year-old girl had vanished during similar rains in Mallahitola, Wazirganj. Her body was recovered four days later, kilometres away in the Gomti Barrage. Then, too, the city had reacted, with headlines, outrage, and administrative visits. And then, silence.
“Every time someone dies, officials come with cameras, make promises, and disappear,” Mohd Irfan, said, 6-year-old’s father. “The drain where my daughter fell is still open. Nothing has changed. No cover, no warning sign, no barricade.”
Irfan, an e-rickshaw driver, says only the central government offered compensation. “The LMC just gave words. I am poor and I don’t have the strength to fight the system. But I know who is responsible.”
Residents of Radhagram in Thakurganj said the drain that killed Suresh had been open for months. Complaints went unheard. “There were no signs, no barriers. We warned them. No one listened,” a local said.
However, at around 10:30 pm on Monday night, a few officials from the LMC arrived in the Thakurganj area on the spot where a man had slipped and fallen into a drain leading to his death and began efforts to install a drain cover, said Anurag Pandey, former corporator of the area. However pandey also added that several other patches are even neglected by the Municipal Corporation where there is damaged drain cover.
HT also surveyed areas like Chowk, Wazirganj, and Arjunganj. In every locality, the same scene played out, open drains hidden beneath waterlogged roads, posing death traps for unsuspecting pedestrians. At the Shaheed Path underpass in Arjunganj, open gaps of 4–5 feet yawned beside the road. A commuter said, “One day, there will be another body. That’s when LMC will wake up.”
Following the Thakurganj tragedy, 40 open drain complaints were registered at the LMC control room. A source claimed work had begun. But residents in affected areas saw no evidence of repair, no signs of urgency, no assurance of safety.
Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai met Suresh’s family and blamed the LMC for “criminal negligence.” He demanded a fair probe, punishment for officials, and proper compensation. Rai said the party would take the matter to the streets if civic safety continued to be ignored. Accompanying him were state leaders Mukesh Singh Chauhan, Amit Srivastava Tyagi, Dr Shahzad Alam, and others.
Despite two fatal incidents within a year, open drains remain uncovered, especially during monsoons when water hides the danger. There has been no major civic audit, no redesign of safety protocol, no emergency response mechanism.
Corporators protest
Several corporators staged a sit-in at the LMC office on Monday, accusing municipal commissioner Gaurav Kumar of negligence and harassment after a case was filed against corporator CB Singh over a man’s death in an open drain.
They alleged Singh had repeatedly asked officials to repair the slab but was ignored. “The Commissioner isn’t meeting us, and development work is stalled,” said a corporator.
Mayor Sushma Kharakwal backed Singh and called the FIR a political conspiracy. “If this starts, people will file cases against me too. It’s a political conspiracy,” she said, adding that she had called the Police Commissioner for clarification on the matter.
