A disaster waiting to happen: Calf falls in open drain in Dwarka

Dwarka: On Saturday morning, a baby calf was rescued from an uncovered drain in front of CNG station in Sector 23, Dwarka. The calf appeared to have fallen into a drain on the footpath leading to the road.

Some members of Jeev Jantu Sewa Foundation rescued the fallen calf after 1.5 hours. They brought a rope to pull the calf out and covered the drain afterwards.

A calf fell into a drain near CNG, Sector -23, Dwarka and remained stuck since morning on Saturday. All the nearby residents are trying to recused. @pwddelhi @OfficialSdmc @official_dda @Dwarkafederati1 @dwarkaforum pic.twitter.com/a2ENxt7ZAT

— CitySpidey (@city_spidey) September 18, 2021

Shobhit Chauhan, a social activist and General Secretary of Jeev Jantu Sewa Foundation, said, “Open manhole covers all across Dwarka pose a serious risk of life. Today, we got an SOS call regarding a small calf falling into the manhole.”

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“Our team immediately rushed and rescued it.  We have been telling the DDA to repair the open manholes but they are sleeping over the issue and waiting for some major incident. We have  covered up the manhole covers ourselves now,” he added.

The calf has been rescued by Jeev Jantu Sewa foundation from Dwarka. @chauhanshobhit_ @jeevjantusewa @pwddelhi @OfficialSdmc @official_dda @Dwarkafederati1 @dwarkaforum pic.twitter.com/ows3snNZmh

— CitySpidey (@city_spidey) September 18, 2021

As you can see in the photographs, the open drain is located right in the middle of the footpath, it is a dangerous obstruction for many commuters too.

A market is located right ahead on this road. There is no streetlight in the whole lane. It can prove to be dangerous as the protruding manhole can be easily missed by travellers in the dark. It can again  cause many accidents due to its placement.

Rajeev Gautam, a resident of Dwarka sector-23, said, in a quote to CitySpidey, “I live in Dwarka and commute through this road every day. It is dangerous for everyone. Senior citizens, children, and animals can topple because of this manhole, anything can happen and I have never seen this get fixed properly once.”

“I’ve only seen temporary fixes, after which the footpath goes back to this state. There is a school nearby as well, the children often topple or get stuck in this mess of a footpath,” he added.

When CitySpidey questioned Dinesh Arya who often commutes through this road, he said, “I reside in Sector 4 but often travel through this road for work. This road is dangerous and should be taken care of by the authorities.”

We have reached out to the Chief Engineer, DDA, Dwarka and waiting for his response. We will update the story as soon as we get a response from their end.