3-year-old boy drowns in water-logged house in Delhi, probe on

A three-year-old boy allegedly drowned in the waterlogged ground floor of a two-storey house at Kirari in Prem Nagar in outer Delhi on Saturday night, police said, adding that the child’s family had gone to a nearby market when he climbed down to the flooded ground floor through a staircase while playing near the gate of the house.

The deceased boy was identified as Arif. His father, Ashraf, works as an e-rickshaw driver, police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Rohini) Guriqbal Singh Sidhu said that around 10.30pm on Saturday, the Prem Nagar police station received a call from Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital regarding the death of the boy. A team reached the hospital and met the parents of the child who said there was waterlogging on the ground floor of their house and their child drowned while playing near the gate. “We are taking the necessary legal action,” said DCP Sidhu.

Locals said that waterlogging in the house was not due to the recent flood in the city. Hundreds of homes in Kirari get annually flooded in knee-deep water during the monsoon season as the Kirari ward is characterised by poor drainage along with unauthorised colonies in low-lying areas that have no natural outflow.

Meanwhile, Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Virendra Sachdeva slammed the Delhi government and it has never made any effort to lay proper sewer lines. “Yesterday evening in a fatal mishap at Ekta Enclave, Kirari the only son of Ashraf was killed due to drowning... This government is so busy in political games that it has no time to solve the waterlogging problem of poor colonies like Kirari,” he said.

The Delhi BJP also demanded compensation of ₹25 lakh for the family from the Delhi government and the registration of a case against those responsible for the waterlogging.

The Delhi government and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi did not respond to HT’s queries seeking comments.