NHRC notice to Delhi govt over boy's death after falling in open drain

The NHRC on Thursday said it has issued notices to the Delhi government, the city police chief, the DDA and the MCD over reports that a five-year-old boy died allegedly after falling into an open drain in Alipur area.

This is the fifth such incident in the national capital in the recent past, the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement.

The human rights panel has taken suo motu cognisance of a media report that a five-year-old boy died after falling into an open drain in the Alipur area of northwest Delhi on October 7, it said.

The contractor, who worked there, had reportedly left the drain open at various places without placing any warning signs, the statement said.

The NHRC has observed the contents of the news report about this case and similar incidents in the recent past, if true, raise a serious issue of violation of the human rights of the victims due to apparent negligence of the civic authorities.

It is indeed very concerning that such incidents indicating negligence by the public authorities continue to happen in the national capital. Many human lives were reported lost due to drowning and electrocution in Delhi of which it had taken suo motu cognisance and asked the authorities to be vigilant, the rights panel said.

Accordingly, it has issued notices to the chief secretary, government of Delhi, the commissioner of Delhi Police, the vice-chairman of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the commissioner of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), seeking a detailed report within four weeks, the statement said.

The report is expected to include the status of the FIRs in all such cases, action taken against officials responsible, and compensation, if any, paid to the next of kin of the deceased. The Commission would also like to know about the steps taken or proposed by the authorities to stop recurrence of such incidents, the statement said.

According to media reports, a two-and-a-half-year-old girl lost her life earlier this month after falling into an open drain in northeast Delhi's Khajuri Khas.

In September, a 32-year-old man died after falling into an open drain in northeast Delhi's Bhajanpura.

In August, the body of a seven-year-old boy was found in an open drain in northwest Delhi's Ashok Vihar. In the same month, a man died after falling into a drain in Paschim Vihar area, the statement said.

In July, the death of a woman and her son in a drain in east Delhi's Ghazipur created a big storm. Another person died after his car fell into a drain in north Delhi's Burari in the same month, it added.