Drain deaths in east Delhi: HC lists plea for hearing on August 6

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday listed for hearing on August 6 a plea over the death of a mother-son duo who had fallen into a waterlogged open drain in Ghazipur, after the DDA said that the portion of the drain where the incident took place fell within the jurisdiction of the the MCD. The petitioner’s counsel said he has now filed an application to make the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) a party to the plea, as at the time of filing the petition, it was “locally” known that the drain was being maintained by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Now, as per reports, it has transpired that there was some “back and forth” on who owned the drain, the lawyer said.

“If you are unsure, you make both of them as parties.. We will have it tomorrow. Get your impleadment application listed,” a bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela said.

Tanuja (22) and her son Priyansh (3) drowned in a half-open under-construction drain in a waterlogged street in east Delhi’s Ghazipur area as heavy rains lashed Delhi-NCR on July 31 evening.

The incident occurred around 8 p.m. near the Khoda Colony area.

When their bodies were brought out of the water, the woman still had her arms wrapped around the toddler, the police had said.

They were taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, where doctors declared them dead, a police officer had said. On Sunday, the DDA — which is headed by the Lieutenant Governor (LG) — said in a statement that the open drain was transferred to MCD on April 13 and falls entirely under its jurisdiction. The counsel for the DDA submitted in the high court that the drain is divided into two parts, with one part under its jurisdiction and the other with the MCD.

“The part which is in our jurisdiction has been covered. It has no holes whatsoever. The part where MCD has jurisdiction, that is somehow left open,” he said.

The counsel said a GPS survey has been done to show where the DDA drain starts and what is its condition.

The petitioner’s counsel stated that there has to be a “solution-oriented approach” and not a “blame game”, and irrespective of whether the drain was under the MCD or DDA, the authorities must ensure that the drains are barricaded.

The PIL filed by Jhunnu Lal Srivastava, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase 3, has sought action against the contractor and officials of the DDA for their alleged negligence leading to the death of the woman and her three-year-old son.

The petitioner has also sought compensation for the family of the deceased as well as a comprehensive audit of all ongoing drain construction projects in Delhi. He has demanded proper safety measures at all such places, including barricades, warning signs and adequate lighting.

The plea has sought direction to the city police to lodge an FIR and initiate investigation into the incident.

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Drain deaths in east Delhi: HC lists plea for hearing on August 6

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