A hole Delhi can’t fill: How uncovered drain in Ghazipur killed a young mother and toddler — and official apathy still rules the spot

NEW DELHI : Tanuja, a 23-yearold homemaker, and her threeyear-old son, Priyansh, were going to a weekly market on July 31, 2024, when they fell into a partially constructed drain in east Delhi’s Ghazipur. Both died. The tragedy left her husband, Govind Singh Bisht, traumatised and he left Delhi for his ancestral place in Uttarakhand.

The drain was neither covered nor marked with any warning sign in 2024. One and a half years later, on visiting the site on Jan 23, and again on Jan 31, TOI found it still uncovered.


Bisht, who earlier worked in a laboratory, said there was nothing left for him in Delhi after losing his entire family to negligence. “I lost my wife and only son. So I returned to my ancestral place. Here, I do petty work and am planning to open a small shop,” he added.
At the time of the incident, the family was living in Khoda Colony in Ghaziabad. They had shifted from Uttarakhand four years ago in pursuit of better employment opportunities. Eyewitnesses had claimed that waterlogging made it difficult for anyone to notice the uncovered drain, 15-foot deep and six-foot wide, near the CNG pump in Ghazipur paper market. They fell into the drain around 7.30pm and residents managed to retrieve the bodies around 11.30pm.

Bisht said the tragedy could have been avoided if the drain was covered or if warning signage was installed. “My wife had just become an aunt and was going to the market to buy gifts for the newborn as well as some household items. There was waterlogging everywhere, making it impossible to spot the drain, and they fell into it.”

Bisht had received Rs 20 lakh as compensation. He, however, stressed that it was the authority’s responsibility to ensure public safety. “I only want the authorities to address such negligence so that no one else has to suffer the way I am suffering,” he emphasised.

Narender, a relative, said his wife and child were accompanying Tanuja and Priyansh to the market. “My daughter was with them. Her slipper came off, so she went back to pick it up, and that’s when the incident happened.” He said his wife had jumped into the drain to save Tanuja and Priyansh, but was pulled out by bystanders and saved.

Police said they had registered a case under Section 106 (causing death by negligence) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. An officer said that about seven-eight people responsible for the drain were held accountable, a chargesheet was filed and the family had received compensation while the trial was still on.