10-year-old playing near home falls into open drain, feared drowned

NOIDA: A 10-year-old boy walking on two pipes used by a few Noida Authority labourers to cross an open drain slipped into the muck on Monday afternoon and was feared drowned.

The drain in Salarpur village, near Sector 81 station of Aqua Line, is being cleaned by the Noida Authority for the past few days. The labourers engaged in the work had placed two pipes to cross the 50ft-wide drain and several villagers had been walking on them to get to the other side in the absence of any bridge.

Sourabh Kumar, who studied in Class III of SMG Public School in the area, was playing with his cousin Akash and another friend Sonu when he fell into the drain around 2.30pm. Sourabh’s father Ashok Kumar, who works as a labourer in Delhi, said he was told about the accident by an acquaintance.

“He tried to shout for help but kept getting deeper into the muck. He was raising his hand to seek help but no one came forward. A driver of an earthmover raised an alarm, but few responded,” Sourabh’s cousin Akash sobbed.

There was a pall of gloom in the single-room house of Sourabh in Salarpur. His mother Saroj, who works as a maid in nearby housing societies, said they informed police soon after the accident but it took around two hours for divers to come. After the divers failed to find any trace of the boy, they informed the NDRF around 5.30pm.

Prashant Kapil, the SHO of Sector 39 police station, said a police team was sent to the spot immediately. “Divers were not immediately available. We had to call them from Okhla (16km away). They took time to come,” he said. An NDRF team came from Ghaziabad and joined the rescue around 6.40pm. The search continued at the time of filing this report.

Jitendra Yadav, commander of the NDRF team, said nine members had been looking for the boy in a 3km stretch of the drain. “We came to know about the accident around 5.30pm. It was a delay of almost three hours. Since, the current is strong, it is possible the boy may have been swept away. In a case of drowning, there are chances of survival only if somebody responds to the situation and dives to save the person. Otherwise, it gets late,” he said.

Open drains are a cause for concern in Noida and neighbouring Ghaziabad. Both districts have seen a number of deaths, especially of children, by drowning in open drains. Rajesh Singh, officer on special duty at Noida Authority, said there was no immediate plan to cover drains.