Twenty Days On, Missing Girl Who Fell Into Ahmedabad Open Drain Still Untraced as Congress Organises Candle March

Ten-year-old Manisha, who fell into an open drain in the Piplej area along the Narol-Vishala highway in Ahmedabad, remains untraced twenty days after the tragic incident.

In response to the continued disappearance, local citizens, family members, and Congress leaders gathered in Narol on Wednesday evening for a solemn candle march. The procession commenced at 7 pm from the Hanuman temple near Narol Circle, with participants demanding the immediate resumption of search operations and strict accountability for the civic negligence that led to the accident.

Congress Slams Municipal Corporation Over Failed Search and Negligence

Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee general secretary Rajesh T. Soni launched a scathing attack on the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), questioning its administrative priorities. Soni pointed out that an urban civic body boasting a budget of approximately eighteen thousand crore rupees frequently discusses hosting international sporting events yet has failed to locate a young girl swallowed by a municipal drain.

According to party statements, official search operations for Manisha were abruptly halted after just ten days. Soni challenged the civic administration's operational competence, stating that an apparatus unable to secure or locate a single child within its municipal limits raises serious questions about public safety arrangements for large-scale international gatherings.

Warning of Protests Outside Commissioner and Mayor Residences

The Congress leader issued a stern warning to the municipal authorities, declaring that if search efforts are not immediately revived and punitive actions taken against responsible officials, protests will escalate.

Plans are underway to stage sit-in demonstrations outside the official bungalows of both the municipal commissioner and the mayor if administrative inaction persists. Furthermore, the party indicated readiness to approach the Gujarat High Court through a formal public petition to secure legal recourse and accountability. Emphasising the collective grief of the city, Soni asserted that Manisha is not merely a daughter to her grieving parents but a child of Ahmedabad, and vowed that the legal and public struggle for justice will continue to its final conclusion.