A three-year-old boy, who had stepped outside his home to play, drowned in the waterlogged basement of a building in North Delhi’s Kirari Saturday, police said. The boy lived with his family at their rented accommodation on the ground floor of the same building, they added.
Residents of the locality said the basement, used for storage purposes, had been waterlogged for many days. Police suspect the boy went down the staircase, slipped and fell into the basement where he drowned in the water.
Police said they received a call about the incident at 10.24 pm Saturday. The boy, Arif Ali, was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
GS Sidhu, DCP (Rohini), said, “We received information at Prem Nagar police station from the SGM hospital regarding the death of a boy. The boy lived in Prem Nagar, Kirari. Local police reached the hospital where the parents stated that there was waterlogging in the basement. Necessary legal action is being taken in the matter.”
The boy’s father, Ashraf Ali, is a rickshaw puller and has five other children.
He said, “On Saturday, I was outside for some work while his mother was at home. Within 10-15 minutes, we realised Arif was missing. We searched for him everywhere… I then found his body in the basement.”
The family alleged that the basement has been flooded with water and sewage for weeks, adding that none of the authorities has taken any action.
“We called the councillor and other MCD officials several times. They have still not done anything to fix the waterlogging issue. I just want them to act now. I have lost my son. I don’t want anything like this to happen to someone else…,” said the father.
Locals in Kirari alleged the entire colony has been facing waterlogging problems for weeks after the heavy rain in the city, adding that there is inadequate drainage in the area. “Neither the local MLA nor the councillor has come to meet the family or us. How can we live here when our houses are all filled with water?” said Rajdev, a local.
Kirari MLA, AAP’s Rituraj Govind, said, “I am very sad to hear this news. We found that three-four houses were constructed in the middle of a water body… including the house where the incident took place… on encroached land… This is a natural body, called Machli ka talab… Rescue operations take place at settlements located around the river fronts and banks. Kirari is very far from Yamuna. It will get flooded after the entire city gets submerged. The natural water body was dry but this time, with heavy and unprecedented rain, water filled the houses. Hence, the water entered the houses…”
“We are planning to shift the families to a rescue centre. We will also provide compensation to the boy’s family,” he added.
The BJP, meanwhile, hit out at the AAP. In a statement, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged, “The criminal negligence of the Delhi government is taking the lives of children in Kirari. We demand immediate compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the family from the Arvind Kejriwal government. Every year, during monsoon, waterlogging happens in Kirari and the Delhi government has never made any effort to ensure laying of proper sewer lines and sanitation in the year. In most parts of Kirari, water enters houses and they’re submerged in 3-4 feet of water…”
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