The Delhi High Court is expected to hear on August 5 a plea seeking action against officials for the deaths of a woman and her son, who fell into an open drain and drowned in East Delhi’s Ghazipur amid heavy rain on July 31. The public interest litigation, moved by a practicing advocate Jhunnu Lal Srivastava and represented by advocate Adnan Yousuf, sought fixing of accountability on erring officers as well as compensation for the family. It was mentioned before the court of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela Friday. Highlighting the incident where the woman and her three-year-old son fell into the 15-ft-deep open drain, the petitioner pointed out that this violates the Delhi Development Authority’s own circular from 1986 where it was directed that all engineers have to strictly ensure that there should not be any gap on deep-covered drains and that no manhole should be left uncovered. Noting that the respondent authorities have failed to take corrective measures over the years, the petitioner called for “strict accountability” to be fixed on the DDA for failing to counter the flood-like situation in Delhi. The petitioner also sought the court’s directions to authorities to frame and adopt policies to cover all drains with immediate effect as well as to counter the flood-like situation Delhi finds itself in every year with heavy rain. The petitioner further sought the court’s directions to the respondent authorities to conduct a comprehensive audit of all ongoing drain construction projects in Delhi and to ensure proper safety measures are in place, including barricades, warning signs, and adequate lighting. At 7.30 pm on Wednesday, Tanuja Bisht (23) and her son Priyansh were found dead, their bodies discovered in a drain just outside Khoda Colony, opposite a CNG pump, in Ghazipur. Her son had fallen in first and the mother jumped in to rescue him. Residents had alleged that the drain was never closed and it was waterlogged due to heavy rain.
