DDA Defends Itself; Says Portion of Drain Where Mother, Son Drowned Was With MCD

New Delhi: After the AAP targetted it on Thursday, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) defended itself over the death of a woman and her three-year-old son by drowning, stating that the major portion of the drain where the tragedy struck had been handed over to the MCD while their part is covered with RCC slabs.

Tanuja and her three-year-old son Priyansh slipped and fell into the waterlogged under-construction drain around 8 pm on Wednesday, amid heavy rain in the area. They had gone to a weekly market near Khoda Colony in Ghazipur.

According to an official statement of the DDA, the total length of the drain along the Khoda Colony side is 1,350 metres.

"Out of which, 1,000 metres of the drain, along with the adjoining road, was handed over to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) a considerable time ago. The remaining 350 metres of the drain, extending from the truck parking plot (bus terminal) to the PWD road, is under the jurisdiction of the DDA," the statement said.

Recently, the de-silting of the 350-metre section of the drain under the DDA's jurisdiction was completed, and this section was subsequently covered with RCC slabs, it said.

Additionally, a screen was installed at the junction point of the MCD and the DDA drains to prevent the flow of garbage into this drain, the statement stated.

Earlier, the AAP targetted Lt Governor and DDA chairperson V K Saxena over the drowning of a woman and her toddler in an under-construction DDA drain in Ghazipur and demanded action against the erring officials.

Addressing a press conference, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh termed the incident "unfortunate".

"The DDA was carrying out the work of redevelopment of the drain. The Lt Governor is the chairman of the DDA. The officials directly report to him. They demand the arrest of Mayor Shelly Oberoi if some incident happens. They demand the resignation of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is in jail. We demand action against the Lt Governor," he said.

Singh accused the BJP of "maintaining" silence over the incident that, he termed, as "murder".

According to local residents and media reports, a mother and child drowned in the MCD drain, and their bodies were discovered around 500 metres upstream, it said.

Their bodies were found at the junction point of the MCD and the DDA drains, where a screen is installed and which is approximately 500 metres from the drowning site, the statement said, adding that it is pertinent to note that the 350-metre section of the drain under the jurisdiction of DDA is fully covered.