Hyderabad: A 70-year-old man was allegedly swept away after falling into an open stormwater drain near the Vaishali Nagar underpass in Miyapur during heavy rain on Tuesday evening. A massive search operation launched by HYDRAA and GHMC soon after continued for more than 24 hours, but the victim remained untraced till 9 pm on Wednesday.The victim, identified as Bolaiah, worked as a scrap collector and lived in the locality, said Miyapur inspector Vijay Naik. According to him, Bolaiah was returning from his daughter’s house when he allegedly fell into the drain where nala repair works were underway.While police claimed that an advisory was issued stating that underpass would remain closed for 20 days, July 16 onwards, for road widening and stormwater drain work meant to fix chronic waterlogging and ease traffic, the family of the victim accused the civic contractor of negligence.They alleged that the stormwater drain was left open without adequate barricading or safety measures. As a result, pedestrians continued using the route despite the ongoing work.Raj Kumar a resident of Miyapur, claimed that two locals who were at the spot when the incident happened tried to rescue Bolaiah, but the force of the water was too strong. “The drain was left open with an exposed pit nearly four to five feet wide. We had been asking authorities to secure it and post someone near the opening, but nothing was done. Barricades were placed further away, only to redirect traffic. This could have been prevented,” he told TOI. “People, including hundreds of schoolchildren, keep taking this route because the alternative means a two to three km detour,” he added.Mahesh Yadav, another resident, also alleged that the site had not been properly barricaded. “At best, there were mud bunds. If there are barricades visible now, they came up only after the accident,” he alleged.Police, however, refuted the charges. They maintained that the victim had crossed into the restricted stretch despite the closure. “Only a missing person’s case has been registered so far. There is no proven negligence as the area had proper barricading and warning signs,” the inspector said.Bhaskar P, assistant engineer, GHMC overseeing the project, declined to comment on the issue.A HYDRAA official involved in the search, also suggested that the elderly man may have gone onto the site to collect discarded plastic bottles. “There was a strong flow in the nala. He allegedly climbed onto the narrow drain crossing to retrieve plastic bottles floating in the overflowing water, slipped into the gap between two drainage pipes and was swept away,” the official said.Explaining the delay in tracing him, he said, “The search has been going on since last night. We are checking the nala stretch colony by colony, removing garbage and searching inside the drain. The body may have become lodged under accumulated debris.”Thakur Raj Kumar Singh of the Human Rights and Consumer Protection Cell Trust and resident of Serilingampally said people in the area have repeatedly raised safety concerns about the underpass. “Every monsoon, this underpass turns into a hazard. Flooding here is routine but leaving an open stormwater drain without proper protection in an area like this puts lives at risk,” he said, demanding that the authorities are held responsible, and ensure proper barricading at such sites to prevent similar incidents in future.
