A 20-year-old visually impaired woman remained missing on October 11 after falling into an open drainage line near Piplaj Road along Ahmedabad’s Narol–Vishala Highway, with fire brigade and police teams searching the Sabarmati riverbed and connected drainage infrastructure for a second day.
According to Divya Bhaskar, the incident took place at about 3 pm on October 10 near Piplaj Road. The woman is believed to have fallen into a main drainage line that carries wastewater from parts of eastern Ahmedabad to the Pirana sewage treatment plant.
Fire brigade personnel searched the drainage network until late on October 10 but did not locate her. The operation resumed on the morning of October 11 in the Sabarmati riverbed, particularly near the outlet below the Narol–Vishala bridge. Teams are examining the area because the woman may have travelled through the drainage line and emerged near the outlet into the riverbed.
The search has been complicated by the nature of the infrastructure. The drainage line carries sewage and chemically contaminated water, making it unsafe for personnel to enter and conduct a direct search. Fire brigade teams are therefore examining the network from accessible points and carrying out searches near the outlet and along the river’s flow.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s engineering department said the line involved is a main drainage pipeline. Wastewater from the eastern parts of the city flows through this network to the Pirana sewage treatment plant, where it is treated before being discharged into the Sabarmati. Officials are also checking nearby connections because the woman could have entered an adjoining section of the drainage system.
Fire brigade and police teams have opened manholes at different locations as part of the operation. The search is being conducted across the drainage line, connected manholes, the outlet near the bridge and sections of the Sabarmati riverbed.
The incident has also prompted the municipal corporation to begin replacing damaged covers and covering open drainage lines along the Narol–Vishala Highway and Piplaj Road. Municipal workers started placing covers over open sections and replacing broken covers from the morning of October 11, according to the report.
The immediate operation remains focused on locating the missing woman through the drainage network and the Sabarmati outlet. The municipal corporation’s cover-replacement work is continuing along the affected road stretches while fire brigade and police teams maintain the search.
