A man in Ghaziabad survived a freak accident on Thursday morning after he fell into a several-feet-deep open drain in Indirapuram while reversing his scooter, local officials said.
Ghaziabad municipal corporation confirmed that the incident took place at a market near Gaur Green City, Kala Patthar Road, in Indirapuram, and the drain was about 8-10-feet deep.
Two video clips of the incident were widely shared on social media through the day.
One of these videos shows the helmet-wearing man trying to navigate his two-wheeler backwards while exiting a parking spot. In the process, the appears to not see a several-feet-wide gap in the median which exposed an open drain. He topples over into the drain along with his scooter. He then calls for help from inside the drain.
The second video shows some kids noticing the man, drenched in filth, seeking help from inside the drain, and they call out other people to save him. Some locals later arrive with a ladder, and he manages to climb out.
HT could not verify the veracity of any of the videos.
Ghaziabad municipal corporation’s city health officer Mithilesh Kumar said: “The drain is located outside Gaur Green City market area, and the local shopkeepers had covered the drain. They were using it to park vehicles. During the annual cleaning exercise on July 27, the corporation had cut off the covered portion of the drain for cleaning. Later, after cleaning exercise was over, we erected a barricade around that portion. But this too was removed by unidentified locals for convenience.” He said due to this removal of barricading, the man seems to have fallen in drain.
{{/usCountry}}Ghaziabad municipal corporation’s city health officer Mithilesh Kumar said: “The drain is located outside Gaur Green City market area, and the local shopkeepers had covered the drain. They were using it to park vehicles. During the annual cleaning exercise on July 27, the corporation had cut off the covered portion of the drain for cleaning. Later, after cleaning exercise was over, we erected a barricade around that portion. But this too was removed by unidentified locals for convenience.” He said due to this removal of barricading, the man seems to have fallen in drain.
{{/usCountry}}“After this incident, we have again barricaded the area on Thursday,” Kumar added.
Indirapuram police station officers said they have haven’t received any complaint. “We haven’t received any complaint about the incident so far,” said ACP (Indirapuram circle) Abhishek Srivastava.
Meanwhile, the Ghaziabad corporation officials said on Thursday that an inquiry has been initiated into the incident.
The Indirapuram township was developed by Ghaziabad Development Authority in the 1980s, and it was formally handed over to the Ghaziabad municipal corporation when the two agencies signed an MoU on September 6, 2024.
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