Close shave as woman falls into open drain in Patiala, civic apathy under scanner

A 52-year-old woman had a narrow escape after she fell into an overflowing open drain in Bathindia Colony, Nabha, on Wednesday evening. The woman, identified as Madhu, is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Patiala after accidentally ingesting contaminated sewage water while struggling to breathe during the incident.

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The alarming episode, captured on CCTV and widely circulated on social media, shows Madhu plunging into the drain, which was left uncovered amid ongoing construction work. The absence of proper safety measures and missing drain covers has raised serious questions about civic negligence.

According to her brother-in-law, Dev Raj, the incident occurred around 8 pm on July 9, when Madhu was returning from the market with her daughter-in-law. Due to poor visibility following rain and the lack of drain covers, she failed to notice the gaping drain and fell in. Her daughter-in-law immediately raised an alarm, prompting bystanders to rush to her rescue.

Madhu was initially taken to a private hospital in Nabha, but due to the unavailability of diagnostic facilities like X-ray and CT scan, she was referred to a hospital in Patiala.

Dev Raj said in her panic, Madhu swallowed contaminated water, which also included discharge from a nearby dairy. “Thankfully, she had handed over her one-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter to a relative moments before the accident,” he added.

Lack of safety measures

Residents of Bathindia Colony have long demanded safety measures, including the construction of drain covers and protective walls, but allege their repeated pleas have gone unheard by local authorities.

“This could have been avoided if the civic body had acted on our requests,” a resident said.

Executive Officer of Nabha Nagar Council, Gurucharan Singh, confirmed that the drain was approximately three feet wide and five feet deep. “The cleaning process of drain was going on and hence the iron cover was temporarily removed. Meanwhile, road construction work was also underway, and due to low visibility, the woman couldn’t spot the open drain,” he stated.

He added a notice had been issued to the road construction contractor for negligence, particularly for failing to place cautionary signage at the site.

Residents cry foul

over ‘cover-up’

Local residents, however, allege that the Municipal Council is attempting to sweep the matter under the rug by blaming the contractor. “This is a case of administrative failure. Instead of accepting responsibility, they are scapegoating the contractor,” said a local area resident.

The victim’s family also expressed disappointment that neither any official from the district administration nor any representative from the ruling political party has visited Madhu in the hospital.

When contacted, Sujata Chawla, President of the Nabha Nagar Council, said she was currently occupied and would address the matter later.