The drain outside Andhra Loyola College that is left uncovered. Walkers and residents, who have brought it to the notice of municipal authorities multiple times, say the drain is more than five-foot deep.
| Photo Credit: GIRI KVS
The death of a seven-year-old boy, U. Babu, who fell into a drain in Vijayawada on May 4 after a heavy rain lashed the city, has brought back the focus on the danger posed by open drains.
While this is the first incident to have happened this year, in the past two years at least five people died after falling into open drains.
In a similar incident in May 2023, after a spell of heavy rain, a five-year old boy fell into an open drain in Gurunanak Colony while playing and got washed away. In a second incident in the same year, a six-year-old fell into a drain in Old Rajarajeswari Peta while playing. In Vambay Colony in 2024, two adults, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, fell into a drain and died.
At Babu’s rented house, located on Gangireddula Dibba, a hill area in Gunadala, his family and relatives gathered for the mourning. Belonging to a Scheduled Caste, his family, including his mother and grandparents, do menial jobs for their livelihood. While his mother, Kavitha, and grandmother, Mariamma, work as a domestic help at four houses earning ₹14,000 per month, his grandfather works as a labourer.
Bid for fun turns fatal
Babu, who grew up without his father, was studying in Class II at a nearby government school. “As it is the summer vacation, he used to go out to play every day and run down the hillock to rent a bicycle. That particular day, since I did not give him ₹10 to rent a bicycle, he went near the water tank, located on the top of the hill, at around 4.30 p.m., along with two of his friends,” said Mariamma.
After a while, his family received a call that his body was found in a drain near the Gandhi Bomma Centre, which is a kilometre away from the spot where he fell. They rushed him to the Government General Hospital where he was declared brought dead.
The neighbours said every time the tank is cleaned, waste water is released into the drain, about one metre deep, and children gather here to play on those occasions. That day, since it rained heavily, there was water gushing in the drain.
Two rescued
While all the three boys fell into the drain, two of them were pulled out by a man who has a cart nearby. However, Babu got washed away. The drain runs in front of a school, Abhyasa Vidyalayam and there is also a Social Welfare Hostel at the place.
Civic staff draw flak
“We would always keep an eye on children, asking them to stay away from the drain. Younger children fell into the drain a few times, but no one died. A mesh or a slab should have been constructed there long back,” said a shopkeeper, who was hesitant to tell her name.
While on the day of the visit (Tuesday, May 6), the corporation authorities were placing a slab on the drain, people wondered why they wait for an incident to happen to take such measures.
According to information from the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC), many drains are left open to ensure an easier desilting process. But now, the corporation is taking measures to see to it that the drains are covered in a way that it does not obstruct the desilting process.
For all the outfall drains in the city, gratings, crash barriers, chain link mesh are being erected along the drain length. But the timeline for the same is not yet known. In Circle 1, as of today, slabs have been laid along the length of 8 km, out of the total drain length of 19.86 km. In Circle 3, out of 41.47 km length of drains, ramps have been erected in 4 km. This is an ongoing process, the officials said.
Published – May 08, 2025 08:42 pm IST
