Both had gone to the market to purchase school uniform when the incident took place

New Delhi :  Thursday, August 1, was going to be Priyansh’s first day at school. All necessities and formalities were completed, and only thing remaining was a uniform.

His mother went to the market Wednesday evening to purchase him one. But that uniform would never be worn, that school path would never be walked! They drowned in a half-open under construction drain in a waterlogged street as heavy rains pelted down on the Delhi-NCR Wednesday evening.

The mother was still holding her son in her arms when rescuers recovered them metres away from where they slipped into the drain in Khoda Colony in the Ghazipur area of east Delhi.

“Tanuja is my sister-in-law. Priyansh was recently enrolled into a nearby school and she had gone to a market to buy a dress for him since his classes were about to start from Thursday. However, they drowned into an open drain which was waterlogged,” said Karan Bisht.

“When the authorities took them out from the drain, they declared the mother dead and said that Priyansh had one per cent chance to survive. But, even he lost his life,” Karan said.

Another relative said Tanuja was with her sister-in-law Pinky and her two kids when the incident took place.

“I was at the hospital with my daughter-in-law. They (Tanuja and Pinky) had first gone to Mayur Vihar Phase 3 to visit their relatives. It was raining and they kept waiting for the rains to stop. However, when it did not stop even after a while, Tanuja left for home. Pinky first asked her to wait, but when Tanuja insisted, Pinky followed her.

“Tanuja was holding Priyansh and a bag in her hands. When they fell in the drain, Pinky also jumped in to save them. Locals pulled Pinky out as she had her hands above the water, but they could not find Tanuja’s hands as she was holding her son,” the relative said.

Finally, when the authorities found her three hours later and pulled her out of the drain, she was holding her kid, said the relative.

Karan alleged, “When the incident happened, my relatives told me that there was initially a fight between the Delhi Police and UP Police related to the jurisdiction. However, it was later decided that the drain falls under the jurisdiction of Delhi.”

Manish Katariya (31), an eyewitness, said the victims were recovered from several metres away from the spot where they drowned.  “I was present when the incident took place. The whole area was waterlogged and the slab over the drain also submerged. A portion of the drain, which is over 10-ft-deep, was not covered.”

Mahesh Kumar, a local, said the waterlogging in the area is very common during the rainy season.

“This incident is very tragic. We have been living here in such state where we all are vulnerable to such incidents. I hope that the authorities take appropriate steps in order to prevent such incidents,” Kumar said.