Three-year-old girl dies after falling into open manhole

Ludhiana: A three-year-old girl died after falling into a manhole at Dharampura (ward no 21) in Khanna on Saturday. The incident took place while employees of the Khanna Municipal Council were working to clean the sewer line and the manholes were left open in the area. Shockingly, area councillor Rajinder Singh Jeet has held the family of the deceased responsible for the whole incident, stating that employees had alerted the residents to keep a vigil on their children before they opened up the manholes for cleaning the sewer line.
However, family members said the incident could have been averted if the municipal council had deputed sufficient number of employees to guard the open manhole. According to information, about nine manholes were kept open, while only three employees were working to clean the sewer line. Meanwhile, the deceased has been identified as Sandhya, who belonged to a migrant family and suddenly disappeared in the morning while the work of cleaning the sewer line was going on.
Following that, her father Dev Nath Sahni and his wife Kavita started looking for their daughter, who was afterwards found unconscious in a manhole. Residents said she was rushed to the hospital and declared dead. A pall of gloom descended over the area, and residents raised a hue and cry over the alleged failure of the municipal council employees. Meanwhile, the executive officer of the municipal council, Khanna, Charanjit Singh, said it was a tragic incident and appropriate action would be taken if anyone is found guilty in the case.