Bhubaneswar: A man went missing after falling into a large drain near Vani Vihar Square during heavy rain on Saturday.Fire services personnel, police and drainage wing of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) have jointly launched a rescue operation, which was underway till the filing of this report. Local residents said victim Anil Naik, 35, believed to be a ragpicker, was seen being swept away by the strong water current.According to assistant fire officer Manaranjan Rout, the victim was with another ragpicker to collect plastic dumped on the drain-10 culvert. “The drain passing through Vani Vihar (Utka University) along the national highway-16 is full of plastic waste. The man, who was with Naik tried to bring him out of the drain but strong current and waste trapped him,” Rout told TOI.According to the fire personnel, Naik fell into the drain around 4pm. “Rescue is a bit difficult because of the heap of waste choking the culvert of the drain and heavy rain. We have used an excavator to extract the waste,” Rout said.Bhubaneswar municipal commissioner Chanchal Rana said the drain-10 had been barricaded and it was not unsafe until one goes inside the barricading. “We removed the barricade to carry out the rescue operation. Multiple teams are on the job to trace the man,” Rana said.In 2024, a six-year-old boy died after being swept away in the strong current of drain-5 in Unit-III area.
