Hyderabad: 4-year-old girl falls in nala, pulled out alive in 15 minutes

HYDERABAD: A four-year-old girl fell into a hole in the cement-concrete slab covering a drain at Gowliguda, but was pulled out alive within 15 minutes in a joint effort by firemen and locals on Sunday morning. A mound of garbage inside the drain proved a blessing in disguise for the child as she got stuck in it. With the child surviving the accident, questions are being raised about GHMC’s negligence and safety standards.
Around 10am, four-year-old Divya along with her elder sister and two other friends were going to buy breakfast for the family and suddenly she fell into the hole. Within minutes, locals and fire department officials launched a rescue effort.

“The hole was too small for firemen to get into it. We put a ladder inside a nearby manhole, which was barely 10 metres away from the hole, and sent a constable. We feared that the girl might get swept away or drown in the nala because of the recent rain. What saved her from being swept away by the sewer water was a mound of garbage, where she remained stuck,” Gowliguda fire station officer Raj Kumar said.
Fire constable Kranthi Kumar went into the manhole to save the girl. “The manhole was at least 12-ft deep, I went inside and called out her name. I could hear her crying, but hearing my voice she responded. We thought that I will catch her if she gets swept away,” Kranthi said.
The fire officials took the help of a local youth, who was lean. They advised him to bend and try to reach her through the hole. “We tied a rope around the boy’s waist and he bent to reach out to her. After some effort, he reached her and we managed to pull her out. It was a huge relief to see her unhurt. She was rescued within 15 minutes because of the team work,” Kumar added.
Though the girl sustained no major injuries, she suffered minor bruises on her hands and was in a state of shock. She was given first-aid and handed over to her parents, the officer said. “It is fortunate nothing happened to the child. It is GHMC’s responsibility to maintain roads and avoid such accidents. It has been raining now and then and such open pits can lead to accidents,” another fire department official said.
“We found that the manhole cover, which was on the side of the road, was broken. We have provided a temporary cover and workers will fix it. We will inspect the place where the accident occurred once the work is finished,” GHMC, executive engineer, Goshamahal, D Suresh said.