MCD was told to maintain drain in which toddler drowned, shows letter sent by I&FC dept last July

The letter was based on a 2014 order issued by the Delhi Lieutenant Governor, as per which, “municipal corporations… carry out desilting work of drains in unauthorised colonies which are less than 4-ft… irrespective of the agencies which are carrying out the development work in that area…”

In its letter to the MCD, the department said, “A road and side drains from Gujjar Chowk to Ramlila Ground (D-Block Mukandpur) has been constructed by I&FC department and after that the cleaning of the side drain on both the sides has also been cleaned/desilted…”

“It is requested to take care of the above cited drains and maintenance at your end please, to avoid any inconvenience to people residing there,” it added.

A senior government official said, “Even when AAP was in power and Manish Sisodia was the minister, he had directed the MCD to take over and manage the drain… A letter was also written by the I&FC to the MCD last year.”

Despite repeated attempts, MCD officials could not be reached for a comment.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, meanwhile, on Tuesday demanded action against officials and engineers found responsible for the child’s death. Following this, a contractual junior engineer from the I&FC department was dismissed from service with immediate effect, officials said.

“The CM also directed officials to identify open drains and other hazardous sites that pose a threat to life and property, and to rectify them immediately,” said an official.

According to Bhalswa Dairy police station, officers found the toddler inside the drain, located about 15 m away from her residence, on Sunday. She was taken to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Preliminary inquiry revealed that the child had likely wandered out of the house while playing and accidentally fell into the open drain, leading to drowning. Family members have not expressed any suspicion of foul play at this stage, police had said.