New Delhi: The capital’s infrastructure has claimed another life as a 30-year-old man died Tuesday evening after falling into an unprotected, open drain in Rohini’s Sector 32. The tragedy has reignited a fierce political debate over urban safety and administrative accountability in the city.
The victim, identified as Birju Kumar, a labourer originally from Bihar, was walking near the Mahashakti Kali Temple (also known as the DDA Kali Mata Mandir) when he reportedly slipped into a deep, uncovered sewer. The drain is located on land managed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
Emergency services and the Delhi Police from the Begumpur station launched an intensive rescue operation shortly after the alarm was raised. While rescue teams combed the area, authorities later confirmed that the fall had been fatal.
Political firestorm erupts
The incident quickly moved from a local tragedy to a political flashpoint. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Saurabh Bhardwaj lashed out at the local administration, specifically targeting Rekha Gupta’s leadership.
“Rekha Gupta’s government is a useless government, focused solely on photo ops and speeches,” he posted on X. “They don’t want to run a government, they just want to run a circus.”
A lethal pattern of negligence
Birju Kumar’s death is not an isolated event; it is the latest in a series of infrastructure-related fatalities haunting the National Capital Region (NCR). Just days ago, a call centre employee died in West Delhi’s Janakpuri when his motorcycle plunged into a massive excavation pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB). The site reportedly had zero barricades, reflectors, or warning signs.
In the Janakpuri case, police arrested sub-contractor Rajesh Kumar Prajapati. Investigations revealed that Prajapati and others were aware that the motorcyclist had fallen into the pit but failed to notify authorities.
In another incident in mid-January, Yuvraj Mehta, a 27-year-old software engineer, drowned after his car drove into a waterlogged pit at a construction site in Noida Sector 150.
Public safety concerns
The recurring theme across these incidents is a catastrophic failure to implement basic safety protocols at construction and maintenance sites. Residents and activists have grown increasingly vocal about “invisible” hazards, open manholes, unlit pits, and unbarricaded drains, that turn Delhi’s streets into potential death traps, particularly during the evening hours.