Cuttack: A 21-year-old youth died after falling into an open drain at Jhola Sahi in Cuttack on Saturday afternoon. The deceased has been identified as Rahul, an inhabitant of Rajasthan who had come to Cuttack to visit his relatives residing in Neem Sahi after visiting Puri.
According to reports, Rahul had gone out to have a cup of tea on Saturday afternoon and while he was on his way to a teashop he fell into an open drain covered with rain water. As it has been raining heavily since Friday, several low-lying areas of Cuttack were waterlogged making it difficult to distinguish the road from the open drains overflowing with water.
The tragic incident has spread shockwaves across Cuttack. In fact, this is the second such death in the last few months in the city.
Meanwhile, the youth’s father lodged a complaint with Purighat police in connection with the incident on Sunday.
Narrating the incident, the deceased’s father said, “I run a tea shop in Puri. I received a call around 3.30 pm yesterday informing me that my son fell into an open drain and was admitted to a hospital. Soon after receiving the news, I came to Cuttack and learned about his death.”
“The city is full of open drains. Therefore, I request the administration to act immediately before more lives are lost like my son. We have relatives in Cuttack and my son had just come here yesterday to visit them. He was my eldest son,” said the deceased Rahul’s father.
Local corporator Gagan Ojha, Ward No 26 corporator who accompanied Rahul’s father to the police station to lodge the complaint, said, “This is an instance of complete failure by the government and the Cuttack Municipal Corporation. I had personally taken the Commissioner to the spot and requested to cover the drain with slabs. They had even prepared an estimated Rs 1.4 crore for the work. However, they stopped the money and told that the JICA has taken the tender for work in the Cuttack Municipal Corporation area.”
“If such negligence continues, then many more deaths will occur and the administration will be responsible for it,” he added.
