Wazirganj drain mishap: Body of missing 6-yr-old girl found near Bhaisakund four days later

Four days after a six-year-old girl went missing after slipping into an open drain, her body was found near Bhaisakund Gomti Barrage, some 6-7 km away from the incident site, in Lucknow on Sunday

Four days after a six-year-old girl went missing after slipping into an open drain, her body was found near Bhaisakund Gomti Barrage, some 6-7 km away from the incident site, in Lucknow on Sunday.

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Municipal commissioner Inderjit Singh said, “The girl’s body was found stuck in water hyacinth when the cleaning of weeds in the river was underway.”

Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) had deployed camera-equipped robots, drones, and special search teams to locate the girl, scouring drains and nullahs extensively. Despite these efforts, initial searches yielded no results. However, the rescue teams kept focusing on areas where the girl was suspected to have been swept away.

The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday in Mallahitola, Wazirganj, when Nasra, daughter of one Irfan, was feared drowned in an uncovered and overflowing nullah while playing near a small drain that opened to a bigger nullah. Emergency teams from the LMC and the fire brigade were immediately dispatched to search for the girl, but she remained missing until Sunday.

While the SDRF team conducted around 500 rounds within a 5-kilometer stretch of the Gomti River on Friday and Saturday, its efforts yielded no results. LMC had also carried out extensive search on a 4 km stretch over three days, utilising its employees, drone cameras, and other methods, but in vain. On Friday, the civic chief visited the family to offer support.

CCTV footage surfaced a day after the incident showed the girl moments before she fell into the drain. Ikramuddin, a local shopkeeper who witnessed the fall, immediately rushed to search beneath the shop’s stairs but found no sign of the girl.

Drain network

The drain in which the girl was swept away is about 10 meters wide and receives water from several nearby drains, including those in Wazirganj, Golaganj and City Station. To prevent garbage from entering the bigger drain, nets have been installed on the mouth of these smaller drains.

The 7-kilometer-long drainage system includes over 74 smaller drains in Golaganj and Wazirganj whose width ranges from three to five meters. Water from these drains converges into the main drain near Wazirganj Kotwali before being filtered and discharged into the River through Wazirganj Barrel No. 2 near Daliganj Bridge.