Residents in Patna are protesting after three teenagers drowned in the Punpun River during Chhath festival preparations, alleging a critical delay in the arrival of NDRF and SDRF rescue teams despite repeated calls for urgent administrative help.
Patna (Bihar) [India], November 15 (ANI): Outraged residents of Mirzapur village in Bihar’s Patna district on Sunday questioned an alleged hours-long delay in the arrival of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams after three teenage boys went missing and are feared drowned in the Punpun River while preparing a Chhath ghat, asking, “Will we find a child here after five hours?”
Claiming that media personnel reached the riverbank before specialised rescue teams, villagers alleged that helpline numbers listed online were incorrect, no boats or swimmers were deployed despite Patna City being roughly nine kilometres away, and calls to administrative officials and local MLA Ramanand Yadav went unanswered—while police personnel present at the scene said they had contacted NDRF and SDRF DSPs and a rescue team was on the way. According to villagers, the three missing boys have been identified as Aasu, Suraj, and Aditya. Residents said the teenagers were cleaning and decorating the Chhath ghat along the Punpun River when they drowned on Sunday—the third day of the four-day Chhath festival, when devotees offer Sandhya Arghya.
Villagers alleged that the helpline numbers listed online for the NDRF and SDRF were incorrect and claimed that repeated calls to administrative officials, as well as local MLA Ramanand Yadav, yielded no timely response for hours. “You have been calling for five hours, the police have been here for an hour, the police are calling, but they cannot get NDRF to come. How are we supposed to get them here? Will we find a child here after five hours?” a distressed resident asked, questioning why boats, divers, and rescue equipment had not reached the spot despite Patna City being roughly nine kilometres away.
Locals further alleged that “the administration had made no prior arrangements or safety preparations at the Mirzapur Chhath ghat, forcing residents to clear the riverbanks and install bamboo barricades on their own”. Meanwhile, police personnel present at the scene told agitated villagers that they were coordinating with higher authorities and had spoken to the NDRF and SDRF Deputy Superintendents of Police (DSPs), who informed them that a rescue team had already been dispatched and was on its way to the spot. Residents said the village remained shut in shock as locals continued looking for the missing teenagers while awaiting the arrival of specialised rescue teams. (ANI)