Another tragic death due to civic negligence occurred in Delhi on February 10, 2026, when Birju Kumar Rai (also known as Birju Kumar, aged 30-32), a 32 year old daily wage labourer, resident of Samastipur district, Bihar, died in an open manhole on Delhi Development Authority (DDA) vacant land in Rohini Sector 32 (Begumpur area, near Mahashakti Kali Mandir). Fell. The incident happened on Monday night (February 9) when he and his friend Budhan Das (aka Suraj) were going home after drinking; Kumar lost his balance and fell into about 14 feet deep sewer.

Police received a PCR call around 2:36 pm on Tuesday from eyewitness Aamir Hussain, who informed that the man was missing since the previous night. Rescue teams of Delhi Police and Fire Service arrived, after hours of efforts, the body was recovered at around 9 pm; Doctors declared him dead. FIR has been registered under BNS sections (eg, 285, 106) for causing death by negligence; The investigation includes witness statements, CCTV review and determining responsibility for the open manhole.

This follows similar deaths highlighting poor infrastructure and security lapses:
– February 5-6, 2026: Kamal Dhyani, a 25-year-old private bank employee, died of asphyxiation (chest compression, painful suffocation due to ingress of soil) when the motorcycle he was riding fell into a ~15-20 feet open pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for sewer repair in Janakpuri. He was trapped for about 8 hours; Autopsy confirmed accidental death. – January 16-17, 2026: 27-year-old software engineer Yuvraj Mehta’s car fell into a deep, water-filled excavation pit (for making a basement) in Sector 150, Noida, resulting in his death.

There is growing anger among people over the recurring dangers—open pits, open manholes, inadequate barricades/lighting, and delayed action. In Janakpuri, the DJB issued safety instructions on January 24 after the Noida incident, yet they were not implemented. People nearby doing nothing and late alerts (for example, a friend being drunk in Rohini) further increase the anxiety. There are calls for stricter accountability from authorities to prevent such preventable deaths in public places.