A 32-year-old labourer died after falling into an open manhole on vacant Delhi Development Authority (DDA) land in Rohini, marking the second such fatal incident in the capital within five days. According to the Delhi Police, a PCR call was received at 2.36 pm on Tuesday, reporting a missing person suspected to have fallen into a sewer. Police teams rushed to the spot following the call.
The caller, Amir Hussain, a resident of Bihar’s Darbhanga district, told the police that his friends — Birju Kumar Rai (32) of Samastipur and Budhan Das alias Suraj (33) of Madhubani, both labourers — had consumed alcohol on Monday night. At around 7.30 pm, while the two were returning to their nearby jhuggi, Birju allegedly lost balance and fell into the open manhole.
Police said Budhan Das did not inform anyone immediately as he was drunk and only alerted Amir Hussain after regaining his senses the next afternoon, following which the PCR call was made.
After receiving the information, the police informed the DDA, Fire Brigade and other concerned agencies, and rescue operations were launched. The victim was pulled out of the manhole with the help of the Fire Brigade and taken to hospital, where he was declared dead.
However, local residents alleged delays in the response. Sunil Kumar, who was present at the spot, said the man had fallen into the open drain during the night and that the administration was informed later. Another local, Tejpal Yadav, claimed that officials acted only after an emergency call was made, alleging that the man had been lying in the pit since the previous day.
Police said further investigation into the incident is underway. After recovery of the body, the open manhole was covered.
The incident comes days after 25-year-old Kamal Dhayani died after falling into a nearly 15-foot-deep pit while riding a motorcycle in west Delhi’s Janakpuri on February 5, once again raising questions over uncovered drains and pits across the city.
Earlier, Yuvraj Mehra, a 27-year-old software engineer, died after his car plunged into a water-filled pit in Greater Noida on the night of January 16-17. He reportedly stood atop the submerged vehicle for nearly two hours as rescue teams delayed entry, citing freezing conditions and submerged iron rods.
