A scooter rider narrowly escaped a life-threatening accident in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad, on August 25, when he fell into a large open drain outside Gaur Gravity Mall. The shocking moment, captured on CCTV, shows the rider and his scooter plunging into a five-foot-wide uncovered section of the drain. Guards rushed to his rescue after two children who witnessed the fall alerted them. With the help of a bamboo ladder borrowed from a nearby construction site, the man was pulled out of the chest-deep muck, while his scooter was later lifted out with a crane. Fortunately, his injuries were not life-threatening.
The incident has put a spotlight on a long-standing civic hazard in the area. For months, residents have complained about missing and broken drain covers along Kala Patthar Road, which connects NH-9 to Aditya Mall. Despite repeated appeals, authorities have failed to act. The stretch has at least 22 open drains, some nearly six feet wide, posing a severe risk to commuters, especially schoolchildren who use the busy road daily. Residents claim the covers were removed before the monsoon for cleaning but were never replaced.
Eyewitnesses described the incident as both horrifying and inevitable. Rajendra, a mall guard, recalled finding the rider covered in filth and injured, saying his first words were, “I am coming straight from hell.” Puneet Kumar, responsible for mall maintenance, confirmed the rider even managed to contact a crane operator to retrieve his vehicle. Local residents expressed outrage, calling the incident a case of criminal negligence. “Imagine if it had been a child,” said Nirmalendu Mishra, while another resident, VK Bhatnagar, added, “Such an incident was bound to happen. The man was lucky he didn’t drown.”
The Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC), however, shifted part of the blame onto mall management. Officials claimed barricades had been placed after cleaning, but alleged that the mall staff removed them. The mall management strongly denied this, insisting they never touched the barricades and pointing out the dozens of other drains left uncovered by authorities. Local councillor Preeti Jain criticized GMC’s inaction, saying she had repeatedly raised the issue since the start of the monsoon, only to receive excuses about roadside vendors.
This accident, though narrowly avoided from turning fatal, highlights a much larger civic failure in Indirapuram. Uncovered drains continue to pose an everyday danger to residents, and calls are growing louder for immediate government intervention. Locals hope that this frightening episode finally compels authorities to take responsibility and prioritize community safety before another tragedy occurs.
