Drain covered hours after boy's death

 The Shakurpur drain was covered within hours of the eight-year-old boy’s death on Tuesday morning.

Locals claimed that a cow had also fallen in the 12-feet drain around three months back.
“No lessons were learnt by the civic agencies in all these months. They have now covered the drain to save their jobs,” Manish Arora, a local, told DH.

The cow was saved from the drain which was constructed three years ago. A portion on the Britannia Chowk-Rani Bagh Road, however, was left uncovered.

Street lights non functional
It is charged that the street lights were also not functioning for several months. “There are several street lights on these roads, but none of them work. We have filed many complaints and are waiting for action,” added another local named Digamber.

On Tuesday morning, teams of the municipal corporation and Public Works Department arrived in the area and were working on the drain and street lights. “They are working as a probe has now been ordered by the Delhi government. The BJP leaders also visited the spot on Tuesday,” Arora said.

Locals also claimed that police and the fire department reached at the spot over 30 minutes after the incident. “Mohammad Anas had already drowned by then. Police cleared the area, but failed to do anything to get the body,” Digamber said.

Uncle tried best
Anas’ maternal uncle Mohsin was brave enough to launch the rescue operation. Mohsin runs a grocery store in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district. He reached Delhi hours before the incident on Monday. “I am here for the treatment of my uncle Tahir at Lok Nayak Hospital,” Mohsin told police.

Mohsin along with Tahir went to the hospital and reached Anas’ house in the evening. “I later went with Anas to play in the nearby park. I failed to rescue him after he fell in the drain,” Mohsin added.

Police have ruled out involvement of foul play and are treating the death as an incident of negligence.