Last week, the Bharatbhai Chawl in Goregaon East, Mumbai, marked a year since the passing of Divyansh Singh. The one-and-a-half-year-old kid died as he got sucked into the drain during the monsoon season. In an unfortunate and somewhat insensitive reminder, the BMC hung up posters at both entrances of the chawl, reminding them that the local residents should keep an eye on their children during the monsoon season, further adding that the civic body would bear no responsibility in case there is another mishap.
This angered the locals who took apart the posters. The deaths of the children caused by falling into open drains have become an annual feature every monsoon. The drainage network in Mumbai comprises of 3,033 square km of major and minor nullahs, box drains, roadside open drains and closed pipe drains.
According to a report by Indian Express, Surajbhan, the father of the deceased had not been given access to the footage of the child falling in the drain. He further claimed that the drain was never covered with RCC (reinforced cement concrete) lids. The locals used to cover the hole with wooden planks, which would wash away every time during the monsoons. As per sources, several complaints had been made to the BMC in this regard. However, BMC’s P South administrative ward office and the area’s Shiv Sena corporator, Swapnil Tembwalkar, has claimed not to have received any written complaints about the drain lying uncovered.
Now, a year later, the police’s suspects are yet to be found. However, the major change that has occurred is that the drain is now covered by two heavy RCC lids. According to media reports, the family has since shifted out of its ground floor room and into a 12th-floor apartment across the road. The final hopes of the family now lie with the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, which took suo moto cognisance of Divyansh’s disappearance and has issued notices to the BMC and the police last year.
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