A six-year-old Bengaluru girl fell into a storm water drain in Marathahalli area on Friday and the Fire and Emergency Services have launched a search operation to find her, which is currently underway.

Mallika N, the daughter of Nityananda and Boni Koli, who was playing with her friends near the retaining wall of the storm water drain on Friday afternoon, slipped and fell into the drain, Times of India reported. The family lives in one of the hutments located near the storm water drain, where families of migrant workers live. 

Originally from Assam, Nityananda works as a security guard while Boni is a domestic worker. On Friday afternoon, around 2.15 pm, Mallika’s friends alerted her parents and neighbours that she had fallen into the storm water drain. 

Nityananda immediately went into the drain and searched for his daughter for over an hour. Due to the presence of garbage, Nityananda was unable to find his daughter, The New Indian Express reported. Meanwhile, neighbours had alerted the Fire and Emergency Service personnel, who arrived at the spot and began search operations. 

According to the TOI report, the Fire and Emergency Services team began searching for Mallika with metal hooks and four rubber boats. The water level in the storm water drain had increased due to the rains, which lashed Bengaluru earlier this week. Added to the increased water level, the flotsam and garbage piled up in the storm drain made it difficult for the search and rescue team to find Mallika. 

The search operation was on till Friday night and was called off due to lack of visibility. The search operation resumed on Saturday morning around 8 am. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike will enlist the help of the National Disaster Response Force to look for Mallika. The water in the storm drain is 10-feet deep and the silt deposits are making the search operation harded, the TOI report added. 

Meanwhile, the BBMP has ordered an inquiry into the incident.