A nine-year-old visually impaired girl fell into an uncovered drain near Shastri Bridge on Ahmedabad’s Vishala-Narol Road on Saturday evening, prompting a rescue operation by three teams of the Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services and police personnel.
The incident took place at around 5.30 pm near the road leading towards Dev Farm and Sewage Farm, according to a report by Gujarat Samachar. The girl, identified as Manisha Bhalabhai Salat, had arrived at the location with her mother in an autorickshaw.
The report said Manisha’s hand slipped from her mother’s while her mother was paying the autorickshaw driver. The child then took two steps backwards and fell into an open drainage line without a cover. The absence of vision made it difficult for her to identify the hazard on the roadside.
After the fall, Manisha’s mother raised an alarm and local residents gathered at the spot. The Ahmedabad Fire and Emergency Services were alerted, following which three fire teams, three senior officers and police personnel reached the location. Firefighters were conducting a search and rescue operation to bring the girl out of the drain safely when the report was published.
The incident has also triggered anger among residents over the presence of an uncovered drain along a road used by pedestrians and vehicles. Local residents were reported to be demanding strict action against the authorities responsible for leaving the drainage line open in a public area.
The episode places attention on a basic municipal safety responsibility: ensuring that drainage openings are covered, barricaded or otherwise made visible until permanent repairs are completed. For pedestrians, children and people with disabilities, an uncovered drain can become a severe hazard even when it is located beside a road rather than directly on the carriageway.
The report cited previous incidents in Ahmedabad linked to damaged or unsafe road and drainage infrastructure. In November 2025, a person reportedly died in Kubernagar after an accident involving a broken drain cover. In another incident in New Vadaj about a year earlier, a difference in road levels following the construction of a white-topping road reportedly caused a motorcyclist to fall while descending from the GST Bridge; the person riding pillion died.
The latest incident was reported while the fire brigade’s rescue operation was under way. The source report did not establish the girl’s condition after the operation or record a formal response from the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. The next confirmed developments are expected to include the outcome of the rescue operation and any action by the civic body to secure the open drain.
