Jyotirup Choudhury Picture by UB Photos

Guwahati, Oct. 22: Rains and waterlogged streets remind Nizarapar resident Kishore Choudhury and his family of that dark rainy Friday evening eight years ago when his wife, Upamoni, had fallen into an uncovered drain and drowned.

Yesterday, on another rainy dark Friday evening, the family relived the horror, as they watched the telecast of the news that Binoy Mohan Das, 58, of Panjabari had fallen into an open drain at Zoo Road Tiniali.

Fury of the rains binds the two families. While the Choudurys are still coming to terms with their loss, Das’s kin are clinging on to a glimmer of hope, as his body still remains untraced.

Upamoni Choudhury, too, had stepped into an open drain in 2003 while returning from her parents’ residence at Gandhibasti. Her nine-year-old son, Jyotirup, who was just a few metres behind her, had watched on helplessly as his mother drowned.

“Since then rain terrifies us. We call each other in the family as soon as the rain starts. When we are out, we are always scared of the numerous open manholes in the city and even ask others to be alert, as any person may slip into overflowing open drains and die like my wife did. I am so scared that since the incident I have stopped going to the Maniram Dewan Path where my wife had drowned,” Choudhury, a businessman, told The Telegraph today.

This afternoon, the Choudhury family lamented the fact that the government had failed to learn from Upamoni’s death, and had not even bothered to cover the numerous open manholes in the city.

Jyotirup, who is now a Class XII student in a private school, said, “When it rains I call my father to make sure that he reaches home safely. It makes me angry when I see so many open manholes in the city.”