A four-year-old boy fell into an open manhole near Das Garden Colony in Delhi’s Nangli Vihar, prompting a multi-agency rescue operation involving the National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Fire Service, Delhi Police, Delhi Disaster Management Authority and Border Security Force teams.
The child, identified by his father as Imran, had been playing in a park in the area when he fell through the uncovered sewer opening. The exact circumstances have been described differently in the initial accounts: a Delhi Fire Service official told a news agency that the child was playing with his mother when he slipped into the open manhole, while his father, Khursheed Alam, said the boy had gone near the sewer to relieve himself and fell through the uncovered opening.
A Delhi Fire Service official said the department received the call at 9:45 pm. Fire personnel were deployed at the site, but the child had not been located when the report was published. Specialised rescue teams were searching inside the sewer line as the operation continued.
The operation includes the use of suction pumps and scanning equipment to trace the child inside the drainage network. The agencies involved are working to locate and retrieve him from the sewer line, according to the report.
Sub-Divisional Magistrate Rajat Malhotra said the administration responded immediately after receiving information about the incident. He said the NDRF team and the administration were working to rescue the child and that further information would be shared as it became available.
The incident has placed the safety of uncovered sewer infrastructure in a densely occupied residential area under immediate scrutiny. Open manholes can turn routine public spaces such as parks and access lanes into serious hazards, particularly for children, while responsibility for inspection, maintenance and emergency response may involve multiple civic and administrative agencies.
The rescue effort remained underway, with specialised teams inside the sewer line using pumping and scanning equipment. Authorities were expected to provide further information after the search operation produced new findings.
