Elderly woman swept away in Bhubaneswar drain

BHUBANESWAR: A 60-year-old woman from Salia Sahi slum was swept away in an overflowing drain near Ekamra Villa of Nayapalli area on Thursday evening after intermittent rain lashed the city.
Confirming the development, Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Kumar Sahoo said, “The elderly woman slipped into the drain and was washed away. Locals tried to rescue her, but found her dead.”
Irate over the death, locals staged demonstration at Ekamra Villa Chak by placing the woman’s body on the road. They were demanding Rs 10 lakh compensation to next of kin of the deceased. They called off the agitation after police intervened.
The woman, T Appalamma, a native of Mandasa in Andhra Pradesh, had been staying in Adibasi Gaon of Salia Sahi. While walking along the streets towards her home from the nearby market, she apparently could not distinguish between the drain and the road because of rainwater and was washed away, her son T Satyanarayan said.
Police sources said the woman slipped into the under construction drain. After hearing her cry, people nearby swung into action and tried to save her.
“Onlookers raised an alarm. I ran towards her. By the time I found her she was already dead. Everything was finished within a few minutes,” T Satyanarayan (22) said.
Anjan Nath, who works for slum dwellers’ rights, held the government responsible for her death. “The tragedy was waiting to happen because it was an open under-construction drain. We demand Rs 10 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the deceased,” he added.
A minor boy was washed away in a drain near Mumtaz Ali high school in Nayapalli area on August 25, 2015.
A man in his seventies was swept away after accidentally falling into an overflowing drain in Ganganagar area of the city on August 13, 2018.