Toddler steps out to play, only to end in an open gutter manned by BMC

Toddler steps out to play, only to end in an open gutter manned by BMC

In yet another monsoon tragedy, which smacks of civic negligence, a toddler stepped out of his house, only to fall into an open gutter. The incident happened at Goregaon at Ambedkar Chowk on Wed-nesday at 9.45 pm; the parents were keeping their fingers crossed, but hope has flickered with every dying minute as the child is still untraced.

Staff ReporterUpdated: Friday, July 12, 2019, 08:19 AM IST
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Mumbai: In yet another monsoon tragedy, which smacks of civic negligence, a toddler stepped out of his house, only to fall into an open gutter. The incident happened at Goregaon at Ambedkar Chowk on Wed-nesday at 9.45 pm; the parents were keeping their fingers crossed, but hope has flickered with every dying minute as the child is still untraced. A joint search operation was launched by the BMC and the Mumbai Fire Brigade. At the time of writing, a National Disaster Rescue Force team had also been pressed into service.

Immediately after the incident, the boy's family and neighbours held a protest, questioning the BMC for its murderous negligence in leaving the gutter open. CCTV camera footage shows the toddler, Divyansh Suraj Singh, walking past a large meter box towards the road, returning to the pavement & disappearing. Though the footage is slightly blurred, the entire sequence is self- evident. The victim's anguished father Suraj Singh is inconsolable. Between sobs, he threatened: "I will hang myself if my child is not found." Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar and Shiv Sena leader Vishakha Raut visited the spot to assure the family that strict action would be taken against the officials responsible for the negligence.

According to one of the neighbours and some family members, the boy had stepped out to play, not realising that he was walking into a death trap. "The BMC corporators are responsible for this entire incident. To add to my distress, they launched the search only five to six hours after Divyansh fell into the gutter. Almost, as if my son slipping into a gutter is of no consequence. I will end my life if my son is not found," said a heartbroken Suraj. According to the toddler’s uncle, when Divyansh did not return, his father began searching the neighbourhood. Other family members, too, joined the search, but in vain.

Exasperated, they called up the police to inform it about their missing kid; they also rummaged through the CCTV footage of a camera installed outside a shop near the entrance to their chawl. While going through the CCTV footage, they pieced together the sequence and concluded that Divyansh had fallen into the gutter. After the facts were ascertained, they began dredging the gutter but he was not to be found.Later, in protest, Divyansh's family, along with local residents, blocked the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road at midnight, slamming the BMC for the gross negligence. Fire brigade officers said, after 100 metres, the gutter flows into a big nullah which is two kilometres long and ends at Inorbit mall. The level of water in the nullah had risen due to heavy rains on Wednesday night.

According to a BMC official, the gutter had been recently cleaned but the workers forgot to cover it. "Action will be taken against the officer responsible for this. But currently, our priority is to find the child at the earliest," said the officer. Suraj and his wife have three kids: Siddhant, 6, Sonali, 10, and Divyansh, the youngest child, who was still missing after 18 hours

YET ANOTHER DEATH TRAP: TWO DROWN

In a similar incident, two persons fell into Bangurda pond at Powai, on Wednesday night. This lake is three kilometres inside the forest. The fire brigade, the local staff from the BMC and the police scoured the area from 4.30pm to 9.30pm. However, the operation was called off as it was dark and heavy rains had set in, leading to near-zero visibility.

After the search resumed on Thursday, Ajay Bote, 18, was found and immediately rushed to the Holy Spirit Hospital. He was declared dead before admission.The second person, Chaitanya Dirange, 31, too was located and was rushed to Agarwal Hospital, where he too was declared dead before admission.

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