GHAZIABAD: A seven-year-old girl was feared drowned in an open drain near Sahibabad railway station on Saturday and she could not be found even after six hours of search. The search was stopped at 8pm due to heavy rain and darkness. The rescue mission will now resume on Sunday morning.Bharti, a resident of Shyam Park in Sahibabad, lived with her parents and four siblings, three elder sisters and a younger brother, in a one-room rented accommodation near the railway station. Her father Krishna works as a delivery boy for a drinking water supply company, while her mother Renu works as cook in nearby homes.Around 2 pm, Bharti along with her elder sister Aarti (8) and brother Anmol (4) went outside to play with neighbours’ kids near the open drain. “Bharti fell into the drain while trying to fetch a plastic ball which was floating over the drain. She was trying to catch hold of the ball by stretching her hand, but lost control and fell in the muddy water,” said Aarti.Aarti and other children raised an alarm and passersby immediately gathered who called police. Soon cops from Sahibabad and Link Road police stations reached. Teams of fire service and officials of Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation (GMC) also reached the spot.The rescue operation started with the help of a JCB machine and locals too dived into the drain to locate the body. The NDRF was roped in after three hours as the girl could not be traced by the first team of rescuers.However, incessant rain on Saturday afternoon made the rescue operation difficult, as the four-foot-wide and six-foot-deep drain was overflowing at a fast rate. Six NDRF divers checked the drain along the routes, but could not trace the body.The girl’s father alleged that the drain was not cleaned for the past several years and as a result, a huge amount of sludge has accumulated at the bottom. He feared that the body might have got stuck at the bottom in the sludge and therefore could not be located. He blamed GMC saying that it did not build a safety wall along such a deep drain.A senior GMC official, who was at the spot said the drain was cleaned before monsoon. “The drain goes underground at railway station and then emerges on other side. It’s possible the body might have floated far away from the accident spot.”Police said they are yet to receive a written complaint.

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