Civic Apathy Continues: Two-Year Old Dies After Falling Into Open Drain in Patna

Patna: In yet another incident of poor urban infrastructure leading to mishaps across the country, a two-year-old girl has died after falling into an open drain in Patna on Saturday. According to reports, the child, identified as Khadija, slipped into the drain while she was playing near her residence in the Phulwari Sharif area.

Reports indicate that family members and neighbours started to search for Khadija when she went missing. After reviewing CCTV footage from the nearby buildings, it was found out that the child had fallen into the open drain. After she was pulled out, she was rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences Patna, where doctors declared her dead.

Locals residents accused the Phulwari Sharif Nagar Parishad of neglecting basic safety measures like covering open drains. They have claimed that several drains in the area are open which may pose a risk to pedestrians and children.

Police have started off with their investigation by sending the body for post-mortem.

The tragedy in Patna comes in the back of similar such accidents reported in Delhi and Noida in recent months. In Delhi's Rohini Sector 32, a young man fell into an open drain near the Mahashakti Kali Temple. The Delhi Police and rescue teams, including the Delhi Fire Service, rushed to the site and the body of the missing person was eventually retrieved from the drain.

Prior to this, a car slipped into an open drain in Sector 70 Phase-3. The vehicle - parked near Basai village in Sector 70, suddenly slipped into the uncovered drain without any warning signs or safety barricades. The vehicle’s owner managed to exit the car safely, and no injuries were reported. Residents oversaw the rescue operation and pulled the car out.

Earlier in January, a 27-year-old software engineer died after his SUV plunged into a deep, water-filled construction pit amid dense fog, igniting widespread anger across the country. Mehta had been returning home from work when his car broke through a roadside boundary and fell into the excavation. Despite rescue efforts involving police, fire services, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the man could not be saved.

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