Search Operations Continue To Find Missing Man At Miyapur

Hyderabad: Authorities continued their search for 70-year-old Balakrishnayya, who fell into an open drain and was washed away on Tuesday night at Miyapur’s Vaishalinagar road underbridge (RUB), deploying robots with HD cameras and laser profiling mechanisms.

Staff from Cyberabad Municipal Corporation (CMC), Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency (HYDRAA), National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Water Board were searching drain lines and manholes for Balakrishnayya.

Authorities were also watching the Erla Cheruvu, where the drain leads, assuming that Balakrishnayya might have swept to the lake with the water flow.

Speaking with Deccan Chronicle, Sreehari, a business owner at Vaishalinagar said “He was walking near the underpass to collect trash. It was dark, and he accidentally fell into the open drain.”

“The DRF staff opened all the manholes, and checked the entire colony’s drain line could not find him. Today (Thursday), they are searching in the Erla Cheruvu”, Sreehari added.

The colony and RUB was barricaded and closed by the CMC staff 15 days ago for road repair and drainage line repair works. While authorities maintained that Balakrishnayya crossed the barricades and went in, local residents said the barricades have been placed more than 200 metres from the RUB.

Srinivas Kumar, a resident said “The barricades are placed at only the entrance to the colony and in the middle of the colony, which is more than 200 meters away. Even at the entrance, the barricades only cover half the road, and vehicles still come into the colony. Anyone can walk to the RUB even with the barricades in place. How do you expect someone to know that there is a dug-up drain line during heavy rain with no lights and zero visibility?”

Serilingampally zonal commissioner Narayan Amit Malempati, Serilingampally MLA Arekapudi Gandhi and other authorities inspected the rescue works on Thursday.