Goregaon man whose son drowned in drain files FIR against BMC staff

MUMBAI: An FIR was registered on Monday against unnamed BMC staffers after the father of the toddler who drowned in an open Goregaon drain last week held them responsible for the incident. Divyansh Singh's father, Suraj, said in a statement to the police on Monday that he believes his son to be dead as he hasn't yet been traced.

"We have registered a case under section 304 (A) of the IPC for negligence. BMC staffers responsible for repairs and maintenance of drains as well as their supervisory officers have been booked. A probe will be conducted to identify all these staffers," said senior inspector Manohar Shinde of the Dindoshi police station.

The Singhs live at Bharatbhai Patel Compound in Goregaon East. A three-ft-wide drain runs near the entrance to the chawl. In his police statement, Suraj said he and his neighbours had been complaining to the civic administration for four years about uncovered drains, but nobody paid heed.

"In the last week of June, civic staff undertook drain cleaning work in the locality. A 6x3 ft portion of the drain was left uncovered. When the residents noticed the open portion, they put a piece of plywood on it. Residents walked across this plywood whenever they had to enter or exit the chawl," Suraj said in his statement. "But a spell of heavy rain followed and the plywood moved, leaving a gaping hole. Since July 7, the plywood couldn't be found."

On July 10, Suraj left home around 9.45pm, not aware that Divyansh was following him. Suraj's wife, Sandhya, came up to the street searching for the child. She spent an anxious 10 minutes, knocking on the doors of neighbours. She eventually found Divyansh's footwear near the drain and called up her husband.

The couple approached a mosque in the neighbourhood that had CCTV cameras. Footage showed Divyansh slipping into the drain. Some residents then got into the drain, but the force of water was strong. A search operation involving police, fire brigade, BMC and NDRF commenced. The fire brigade called it off on Friday but police resumed on Sunday.

Soon after his son's disappearance, Suraj wanted to press charges on BMC. But police told him negligence charges could not be invoked unless a missing person was found dead. Suraj then gave a statement on Monday in which he said he believed his son may have died. "We undertook a peaceful protest on Sunday from Ambedkar Chowk to BMC office in Goregaon. Police assured us they would take action in 24 hours if we called off the protest," said S Tiwari, a social worker.