Open drains keep Jasola, Taimoor Nagar and Khajuri Khas families on guard

Fifteen-year-old Mithun died after falling into an open drain in Jasola last week while chasing a kite. Along the drain, residents say they now keep children indoors or closely watch them near lanes that lead straight to the water.

Rita, a Jasola resident, said her home’s raised concrete ledge is meant to keep monsoon overflow out and make it harder for her children to reach the drain. Farhat Zahaan, who has two daughters aged four and six, said the family limits their outdoor trips to Sundays, when they visit a park near a mall.

In Taimoor Nagar, children use a narrow wooden bridge built over a pipe to reach school across the drain. Residents said a partly built grilled concrete structure was intended as a boundary wall, but they were told it could take another five or six months to finish.

Near Khajuri Khas Metro station, families have placed old scooters at lane ends as barriers. Fatima, 70, said she has watched the drain accumulate garbage over 39 years and has not been given a timeline for covering it.