Rourkela: A seven-year-old girl, playing inside her housing complex, fell into an open drain and drowned on Wednesday. Saran Badaik, the only daughter of Mumbai-based mason Rohit Badaik, fell into the drain around 8 pm. Her body was found stuck in the drain after a three-hour search. Saran and her family had moved into the affordable housing colony in Chhend just two weeks back from Bidyut basti. However, the joy was tragically cut short. The death triggered anger with residents of the housing colony demanding action against civic authorities and the contractor.“The negligence of the contractor and authorities claimed my daughter’s life. We were forced to move here before the project’s completion,” a grieving family member alleged. Like the Badaiks, several families have moved to the 500-quarter complex near Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium, developed under a public-private partnership for slum dwellers.On Thursday, protesters, including human rights activists, demanded a high-level inquiry and Rs 50 lakh compensation for the bereaved family. They have refused to release the body for postmortem until their demands are met.Chhend police station sub-inspector Om Prakash Routray confirmed that an unnatural death case has been registered based on an FIR. The victim’s father, who rushed back from Mumbai, plans to file an additional complaint.Rourkela Development Authority (RDA) and Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) officials visited the site on Thursday. “This tragic incident falls under RDA’s jurisdiction. We are reviewing the allegations and demands from family members and residents,” said Ajit Patnaik, assistant commissioner, RMC.Despite repeated attempts, RDA secretary L Mahato remained unavailable for comment.