40 days since tragic deaths in Ghazipur, lessons not learnt

Forty days after a 23-year-old woman and her three-year-old son lost their lives when they fell into a waterlogged drain near the Ghazipur paper market, civic and government agencies – themselves involved in a blame game over jurisdiction over the section of the drain where the accident occurred – do not seem to have learned lessons from their fatal mistake.
A visit by HT to the accident site on Monday and Tuesday showed that neither the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) nor the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had taken any concrete steps to repair and cover the nearly 30-foot portion of the trench that remained open and vulnerable. Only some iron barricades, wooden sticks and construction nets were installed around the portion of the drain, that too by the police, in a feeble attempt to stop a repeat accident.
“Neither MCD nor DDA is concerned about the public safety and the lives of poor people like us or the mother and son who lost their lives by falling into the drain on July 31. We often learn about the mud-slinging between the two agencies through newspapers and news channels over the incident, but no one is taking responsibility for the unfortunate death of the woman and her son,” said Praveen Bhat, a resident of Khoda Colony, which is close to the drain.
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On Monday afternoon, another brief spell of rain meant that the drain was overflowing, with sewage water spilling out on the street and people walking perilously close to it again. The pedestrians, however, appeared to be more cautious now while crossing the flooded area. Most of them were holding onto the iron barricades to ensure they did not fall into the drain.
Two women, who were with two small children, hesitated to take the route. “We are aware of the deaths. It’s better for us to wait till the water is cleared from the lane,” one of the women said, asking not to be named.
On July 31, Tanuja Bisht, 23, was carrying her three-year-old son Priyanshu in her arms, and they were returning to their home in Khoda Colony after shopping in the market when they fell into the drain, which was left uncovered for de-silting. The street was under at least one-and-a-half feet of water due to torrential rain that evening. Their bodies were recovered around 11.30pm from the drain — nearly 100m away from the spot where they fell.
The 1,350m long drain acts as a border between east Delhi and Khoda Colony in Ghaziabad. While most of it was permanently covered with concrete, some spots were opened for de-silting.
The scene at the ground
MCD and DDA have installed signage in the area identifying portions of the drain that are under their jurisdiction – but the jurisdiction of the exact accident remains a key bone of contention between them.
A yellow sign instructing people that “throwing garbage is prohibited” was installed by DDA on the right side of the incident spot. Three boards to the left, painted blue, were installed by MCD – one mentioned the project carried out by the agency, another pointed out the place from where civic body’s jurisdiction started, and a third warned that “the drain is deep”.
One part of the drain, measuring around 50 feet, has been cordoned off using wooden logs that have been tied around using coir ropes.
Rajendra Singh, who runs a street food cart near the drain, said that there were at least three instances since the tragic incident of July 31 that the area was waterlogged — to a point where the drain was not visible, and the police barricades were the only obstacle preventing a rerun of the July 31 tragedy.
“Sometimes, sanitation workers come to remove garbage from the drain. But they keep the removed garbage right next to the drain. When it rains, the garbage again flows back. The reality is that agencies have not come up with any permanent solution… We don’t even know who will cover the open drain and when,” said Singh.
The blame game
The blame game between DDA and MCD over the drain started immediately after the deaths, and is continuing even after 40 days. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which controls MCD, has been blaming Delhi’s lieutenant governor VK Saxena and DDA, which comes under the LG. On Sunday, AAP leaders held DDA responsible for the drownings, alleging that the LG’s “false claims were exposed” by the Delhi high court, which, it said, “reprimanded” DDA for the deaths, and told it to pay ₹20 lakh compensation to the victim’s next of kin.
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On Monday, DDA responded by saying the agency has “agreed to pay the compensation purely as a humanitarian gesture” and that the “drain section where the drowning took place belongs to MCD”.
At least two people – both contractors of the drain repair and cover project – were arrested and four engineers – two from DDA and two from MCD – were bound down in the case registered at the Ghazipur police station. The investigating team is likely to file its charge sheet in the case next week, said a police officer aware of the case.
On being asked if investigators were able to confirm which agency owned the section of the drain where the accident occurred, the officer, who did not want to be named, said, “Both agencies (DDA and MCD) were sent notices, asking them to share documents to support that the incident spot did not belong to them. However, it’s still unclear who owns that portion. It is the reason that we bound down two engineers concerned each from both departments. They were not officially arrested.”