9-year-old boy dies after falling into open drain while flying kite in Cuttack

Once again open drain has claimed the life of a minor school boy in Odisha. This time the shocking incident has been reported from Cuttack. As per reports, 9-year-old Joseph Sahani, a class III student of Modern Public School died after falling into an open drain at Bidanasi area on Sunday evening.

The incident occurred at around 4:30 pm when Joseph was flying kites near his house yesterday. The family members claimed that Joseph had stepped out of the house without informing anybody.

“After lunch, we were watching TV when Joseph went out without informing anyone of us. He fell into the open drain accidentally while flying a kite,” said a relative.

The family members have blamed the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) officials for the tragic death of the minor boy.

“It is almost two to three months that the ongoing construction work of the drain has been stopped. The authorities have left open the major drain in the locality at several points. Had the drain been covered with concrete slabs by the CMC, the incident could have been avoided,” said another local resident.

The CMC authorities could not be contacted over the incident.

It is pertinent to mention here that a photo journalist from South Korea suffered injuries after falling into an open drain in Bhubaneswar last week.

The photo journalist, who is now in Bhubaneswar to cover the Hockey World Cup, fell into the open drain while having a cup of tea at a roadside stall at Dumduma area.

(Reported by Prabhat Bisoi in Cuttack)