Differently-abled man dies after falling into open drain in Kheri

Bareilly: A 21-year-old differently-abled man died after falling into an uncovered 6ft drain in Roshannagar locality of Barwar town in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said on Friday. Sandeep Kumar was paraplegic and moved around by supporting himself with his hands.Rajesh Kumar, a resident, said, “Sandeep stepped out in the evening and did not return home. As the night wore on, family members began searching for him and eventually found him lying in the open drain a short distance from his house. He was pulled out but had already died.”Residents alleged that the uncovered drain had been brought to the notice of authorities several times, but no permanent solution was put in place.

They blamed the nagar panchayat for negligence and claimed that a proposal to cover the drain with slabs was approved nearly a year ago, but was never implemented. They said the drain was constructed in 2012 and its cover was removed within six months for cleaning. Some of the slabs were later found damaged.When contacted by TOI, the additional district magistrate, executive officer of the nagar panchayat, block development officer and executive engineer said the matter did not fall under their jurisdiction.

Additional superintendent of police Amit Kumar Rai said, “The family did not file a complaint, due to which no postmortem examination was conducted. If a complaint is received, action will be taken as per rules.”Lakhimpur Kheri district magistrate could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.