The Delhi High Court.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday said it would hear on August 5 a plea seeking action against the contractor and officials of DDA for their alleged negligence leading to the death of a woman and her three-year-old son after falling into a waterlogged drain here on July 31.
The petition was mentioned for urgent hearing before a bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela which declined the request to list it during the day, and said it would come up on Monday.
The deceased -- 22-year-old Tanuja and her son Priyansh -- had gone to a weekly market in east Delhi's Ghazipur area on July 31 when they fell into a waterlogged drain and drowned.
The incident occurred around 8 pm near the Khoda Colony area, where the roadside drain was under construction. When their bodies were brought out of the water, the woman still had her arms wrapped around the toddler, the police had said.
They drowned in a half-open under-construction drain in a waterlogged street as heavy rains lashed Delhi-NCR on July 31 evening.
They were taken to the Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital, where doctors declared them dead, a police officer had said.
The petition has arrayed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Delhi Police and Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs as parties.
The petition filed by Jhunnu Lal Srivastava, a resident of Mayur Vihar Phase 3, sought direction to the authorities to fix accountability of the erring contractor and officials of the DDA allegedly responsible for the negligence leading to the tragic incident.
The plea also sought compensation for the family of the two victims.
“Issue directions to the respondents to frame and adopt policies to address and mitigate the mayhem of flood-like situation in Delhi for rainfall and further to cover all open drains in Delhi with immediate effect and with proper signage educating the public to stay away from drains,” the plea said.
It also sought to direct the authorities to conduct a comprehensive audit of all ongoing drain construction projects in Delhi and ensure proper safety measures are in place, including barricades, warning signs and adequate lighting.
The plea sought to direct the police to lodge an FIR and initiate investigation into the incident that led to the death of the woman and her son.