In a heartbreaking incident that yet again raises questions over civic negligence endangering Delhi residents’ lives, a 23-year-old woman and her three-year-old son died after falling in a drain during the downpour in the national capital last evening.

Tanuja Bisht had gone to the weekly market in Ghazipur with her three-year-old Priyansh and was on her way back when it started raining. The road was waterlogged, and Tanuja fell into an open drain with her son. Hours later, the two bodies were recovered about 500 m away, the mother still clutching her son’s hand.

The woman’s family members have said the mother and son could have been saved if the rescue operation was swift. Her husband Govind Singh, who works in a private firm in Noida, was at work when disaster struck.

“If the rescue operation was swift, my wife and son could have been saved. Every year, such incidents take place, but no action is taken,” he said.

Tanuja’s uncle Harish Rawat said the drain was overflowing and she could not spot it in time. “We got information around 7.30 pm. We dialled 100 and the cops came with a rescue team. But they did not have proper equipment. They kept trying, but it did not work. The bodies were recovered more than two hours later.”

He said they rushed Tanuja and Priyansh to the hospital in a private cab, hoping against hope that they will make it. “We took them to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital. No ambulance was arranged.”

Mr Rawat said Tanuja, even in death, did not leave her son’s hand. “When the body was found, she was still holding him,” he said.

Local residents slammed civic authorities, saying that this drain has been open for the past three months and overflows during every spell of rain. “We have complained multiple times, but the administration does not want to work. I have lived for 20 years here and I have seen flooded roads every monsoon. We have approached MPs, MLA, officials, but nothing worked,” a resident said. He added that if a drain is under construction, it is the administration’s duty to cover it. “The drain was open and overflowing, the woman could not spot it and fell in. If the drain had been closed, she would have been alive. She died pointlessly,” he said.

A total of seven deaths have been reported in the national capital after heavy rain yesterday.

The drain tragedy comes amid massive outrage over civic negligence in the national capital. Every spell of rain chokes Delhi, thanks to blocked drains and illegal construction. A week back, three IAS aspirants died after a basement was flooded in Rajinder Nagar. The basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle housed a library and the students inside were stuck after water gushed in.