Neighbourhood unites, wades through nullah to look for boy

Residents protest slow search; BMC to investigate how drain cover was removed

July 12, 2019 01:13 am | Updated 01:17 am IST - Mumbai

Mumbai 11/07/2019: Open drain at Dindoshi in Goregaon where 1.5 year old Divyansh Singh fell yesterday.  Photo: Vijay Bhate

Mumbai 11/07/2019: Open drain at Dindoshi in Goregaon where 1.5 year old Divyansh Singh fell yesterday. Photo: Vijay Bhate

A little boy in a Dindoshi chawl brought an entire neighbourhood together like never before.

On Wednesday night, one-and-a-half-year-old Divyansh Singh fell into a drain at Bharat Bhai Compound on the Goregaon-Mulund Link Road around 9.45 p.m., sending his family and neighbours into a frenzy. Almost everyone in the neighbourhood waded through the nullah, broke portions of the adjoining wall, and arranged food for the distraught family.

The compound is made up of makeshift shanties and most of its residents work in the industrial area nearby. Narrow lanes and culverts run between the shanties. The nullah runs in front of the homes and widens into a larger one on the Western Express Highway before joining the Malad creek.

CCTV footage

At around 9.45 p.m., the boy’s mother realised her son was nowhere to be seen. She came to the edge of the chawl, looked around and went back to ask her neighbours about her son. When she drew a blank, she requested a neighbour to check his CCTV camera footage. “I have a godown here and my car is parked outside. For security reasons, I have installed a CCTV camera and its feed is connected to my phone. I found that the boy had fallen into the nullah, only 20 seconds before his mother reached the spot,” the neighbour said.

Soon enough, the entire chawl began to look for him in the rain. Fire brigade and police personnel joined in the search. A large portion of the nullah’s cover had to be broken for the search. “There was no way to use divers or a JCB for this search operation. We climbed into the nullah and using torches and bamboo sticks, kept looking for him. We must have walked 4-5 km. I was on duty till 6 a.m.,” said Linesh Tambe, station officer, Dindoshi fire station. The fire brigade also tried using a drone to look for the boy but nothing could be spotted, owing to the flow of water.

The search continued through the day, stretching up to 10 km across the nullah’s length. At around noon, the local people started to lose their patience and held a rasta roko at Ambedkar Chowk in the area as well as sit-in. At around 1 p.m., they were herded to the police station. Shravan Tiwari, who led the protest said, “We want them to either arrest those responsible for this incident or arrest us. We demand to know why the search is taking so long. Are the agencies so incompetent?” The local people were released later.

At around 2 p.m., Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar visited the spot and was met with hostility. Speaking to a Marathi channel later, Mr. Mahadeshwar said, “It is a very unfortunate incident. The nullah was covered everywhere except at this spot. Why was it open here? We will have to enquire with Solid Waste Department officers. The mother should have taken precautions, but I don’t know what happened. Sometimes, locals open the gutters to throw trash. We keep requesting people not to do so. I don’t think they did but if the officers are guilty, we will take action.”

At 5.55 p.m., the National Disaster Response Force was called in to help with the search. The BMC’s official Twitter handle said, “...We request residents to immediately report to us if they spot such open drains on 1916, ward control rooms or Twitter… Early reports have revealed that the cover of the drain was removed by certain individuals. CCTV footage is being checked and investigated to trace the people.” Search operations are still on and three manholes have been opened to find Divyansh.

Ashwini Joshi, additional municipal commissioner said, “On June 29, our staff had gone to the spot as there were complaints of choking. Our staff opened the nullah, completed their work and replaced the cover. What happened to the cover after that needs to be investigated. If unauthorised persons removed it, we will report it to the police.”

In the neighbourhood, there was a mix of sadness and fear; a day later, there was no trace of the boy. Poonam Kanaujia, a neighbour said, “He was such a beautiful boy. He would smile and play with all of us. He would come to our house. Everybody is very fond of him.”

Residents fear for their children’s safety. “The nullah’s cover has been missing for years. We replaced it once but it broke due to heavy rain,” said resident Meena Gupta.

Arvind Yadav, Singh’s relative said, “The mother is distraught. The father also has been looking for his son throughout last night and all of today. Nobody has slept a wink. There is a constant stream of visitors and we have to tell them to give us space. Our neighbours have provided us food.”

Man drowns

Meanwhile, Chaitanya Dherange (31), a resident of Ghatkopar, drowned in Powai’s Bangurda Talao around 9.30 p.m., where he had gone for a party. The fire brigade and police were called in.

“The location is remote. The pond is situated inside Aarey Colony, beyond Bangurde village. No villager was ready to show us the location. There are no roads inside, just a path inside the woods. Search could not be undertaken at night,” said a fire brigade official.

The search was resumed on Thursday morning and the body was found at 2 p.m. Police have registered an accidental death report.

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