A 23-year-old journalist working with the digital team of the Tamil media group Puthiya Thalaimurai died after he fell into an unfinished storm water drain near Kasi theater in Chennai. The incident happened on Saturday, October 22, around 10.30 pm. The journalist Muthukrishnan was admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
Muthukrishnan, who was working as a content writer in the digital team of Puthiya Thalaimurai was walking towards Kasi theater after finishing his shift at around 10.30 pm, when he accidentally slipped and fell into an unfinished storm water drain. “No one saw him falling into the storm water drain and he was lying in it for more than an hour,” one of Muthukrishnan’s colleagues said. The police personnel on duty found him and rescued him. According to Muthukrishnan’s colleagues, the police called his friends and sent him in an auto to his house located in Kandanchavadi.
After reaching Kandanchavadi, Muthukrishnan was taken to a nearby hospital where his scan reports revealed that he had suffered serious injuries. He was then admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment. The Greater Chennai Corporation has stated that the road comes under the ambit of the Department of Highways.
Following the news of Muthukrishnan's death, Chief Minister MK Stalin has announced that a compensation of Rs 5 lakh will be provided to the journalist's family. Two lakh rupees of the compensation amount will come from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, and the remaining Rs 3 lakh is to be given from the Journalist's Welfare Scheme, according to the announcement. Stalin also expressed his condolences to Muthukrishnan's family and to his friends in the media.
In many areas of Chennai, the storm water drainage work has been undertaken in a haphazard manner. Residents have been complaining about the danger of trenches left open without barricades in many areas, and iron rods protruding from the ground in many places even after construction was completed.
Earlier on October 18, MG Dawood Miakhan, who is the General Secretary of the Quaide Milleth Educational and Social Trust, sustained serious injuries after falling into a trench at Kasturi Rangan Road. Dawood was trying to cross the open space on a narrow plank that was laid across the trench, when he fell. He sustained injuries to his head and fractured his arm. He said that he suffered a head injury as well as multiple fractures in his right hand. “Initial scans showed signs of mild haemorrhage with blood clotting near the brain", he said. Dawood added that in the past, many people have asked for a sturdy bridge-like structure across the open drain until construction was completed.