Her body was traced 24 hours later, 5 km downstream
It happened in the middle of Hyderabad city. An 18-month-old baby was swept away in the murky waters of the dead river Musi, which divides the old city from the new and has become a drain full of weeds.
On Thursday, Manvi had gone with her father for sightseeing around the the city when she was washed away. The infant, a British national, had slipped from the shoulder of her father Dr Megashyam Reddy (42) and drowned. Her body was traced after 24 hours, 5 km away from where she was last seen.
It all happened while her father was showing his children — Manvi (18 months ), Sanvi (5 yrs) and 10-year-old son Pramog — the Musi river and explaining about it. Eyewitnesses said the mishap occurred when he was holding the baby on his left shoulder. He was trying to take photographs of his son, with the swollen Musi River, full of sludge and dirt, in the background.
It was during this that Manvi, weighing roughly 10 kg, slipped from his shoulder and was washed away in the murky waters of the river. Though Megashyam screamed for help and pleaded with bystanders to rescue the girl, it took hours for swimmers and diving experts to begin, as nobody dared enter the river that was full of weeds, slush and mud, and in spate.
Reports say the delay in rescue operations was also due to the decision on jurisdiction of the accident site, as it was in the middle of the Uppal police station’s purview and also within the LB Nagar police limits.
“We had just returned from Nagarjuna Sagar, where the Krishna River was roaring. My husband took the children to Musi river at LB Nagar to show the difference between a full river and a city-based river,” said Pratibha, the toddler’s mother.
Gloom descended on the family when Manvi’s body was traced on Friday morning, 24 hours after she was washed away, and recovered by the National Disaster Response Force.
Megashyam Reddy, an anaesthesiologist in London, had come to Hyderabad last month to attend family weddings, and was scheduled to return to the UK by August 21.
The family had visited all the tourist spots in the state during their stay.
Come rainy reason, and Hyderabad turns into a city of bizarre incidents, like drowning in open manholes on city roads. In 2010, a woman bank manager was drowned in a manhole, with the waters dragging her for over 5 km. Similarly, this year three drainage workers were drowned in manholes in the city.
