Hyderabad: In yet another case of negligence, a five-year-old school girl fell into an open manhole in Yakutpura, Hyderabad on Thursday, September 11.
The incident took place at Moula ka Chilla when she was going to school along with her mother.
Hyderabad school girl narrowly escapes
Fortunately, as there was no flow of water in the manhole, she was rescued spontaneously.
In the video which is making rounds on social media, the girl can be seen accidentally falling into the manhole.
Luckily, her mother acted swiftly and pulled her out of it. Though the girl managed to escape, she received minor injuries.
HYDRAA responds
The Hyderabad Disaster Management and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA) has responded to the incident saying that it has taken a serious note of the matter and is investigating the reasons behind it.
HYDRAA is also reviewing the CCTV footage from the time the manhole was opened on Wednesday till the time of the incident on Thursday. They have also scheduled a meeting with the local HYDRA, Water Board, and GHMC officials on Friday.
According to HYDRAA, the manhole was opened by HYDRAA teams after the local corporator ordered for the debris to be cleaned from the manhole.
Due to years of accumulated debris, HYDRAA teams sought the help of Water Board’s jetting machine for cleaning. Meanwhile, the corporator also ordered the cleaning of a different manhole to which the HYDRAA team attended.
However, HYDRAA has stated that based on preliminary information it seems that the Water Board staff left the previous manhole open. When a second HYDRAA team noticed the open cover on Wednesday, they were reportedly stopped from closing it by locals, who stated that the the work was still pending.
This resulted in the accident on Thursday morning.
HYDRAA has stated that manholes covers are opened in the rainy season to facilitate the flow of floodwater and are closed once the flood subsides. It is also ensured that HYDRAA staff is present at the site for as long as the cover is open.
However, if anyone observes that a manhole has been left open somewhere, they have been encouraged to report it through the number 9000113667.
The article has been updated with latest information.
