5-year-old drowns in pool at Gurugram township

Five-year-old Mevansh Singla drowned in a Gurugram township pool due to alleged negligence. Lifeguard on phone as boy struggled, leading to his death.

A five-year-old boy drowned in a swimming pool at a township in Gurugram’s Sector-37D on Wednesday in what appeared to be a clear case of negligence on the part of the society’s management, the police said, adding that the on-duty lifeguard was busy on his phone even as the boy struggled in the water for several minutes before his death.

The BPTP Park Serene residential condominium in Sector 37D. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

The horrific incident, which took place in BPTP Park Serene, was caught on CCTV camera at the clubhouse where the pool was located, police officials said.

The boy – Mevansh Singla – was originally swimming in a 1.5-foot-deep pool meant for children, but he later walked into a 4-foot-deep pool meant for adults without the lifeguards noticing, police and eyewitnesses said.

Police said the family informed them that the boy arrived at the pool with his grandmother. But, after 35 minutes, the grandmother went back to their home to pick up something, leaving the child alone at the pool with at least two lifeguards present nearby.

Investigators said that in the security footage, the boy is seen struggling for two-to-three minutes in the water, but the lifeguard standing nearby remained busy on his phone.

The family members of the boy, in their complaint to the police, have alleged that neither of the four lifeguards, nor the security guards, deployed at the three pools inside the club of the society paid heed that a child had gone inside the deeper pool and had drowned.

Even after Mevash drowned, his body was floating in the pool for around 10 minutes, before a group of children near the pool alerted the lifeguards, police said.

A lifeguard named Ankit finally pulled him out, but did not even try to resuscitate him, police said.

“Even as the boy remained unresponsive, there were no attempts made on the pool-side to resuscitate him. He was directly rushed to a nearby private hospital, but doctors declared him dead on arrival. A lifeguard was present there but he was seen busy on phone,” said a police officer who did not wish to be identified, adding that CCTV camera footage of the incident was with police.

Residents and hospital administration, meanwhile, alerted the police control room after which police officers reached the society.

Mevansh lived on the fifth floor of Tower-J in BPTP Park Serene with his parents, sister, and grandparents, police said. His father worked in a research and development wing of an automobile manufacturing firm in Udyog Vihar. He was nursery class student in a private school located just opposite to the township and the family had celebrated his fifth birthday on July 6.

Once the news of the accident spread, hundreds of residents arrived at the clubhouse on Wednesday night protesting against the management responsible for handling the safety and security of the society. They alleged that “untrained” professionals had been hired as lifeguards, which is what resulted in the shocking incident.

Residents said that once the management employees saw the crowd, all staff and guards of the firm fled from the spot.

The victim’s grandfather, in a written complaint to the police, alleged that his grandson shifted into the swimming pool which is at least four feet deep and is only meant for use by adults.

“Had the lifeguards, security guards or the management been responsible, alert and had acted promptly, my grandson would not have drowned. Please take stern action against the culprits,” the grandfather alleged in his police complaint.

Inspector Sandeep Kumar, station house officer of the Sector-10 police station, said that two lifeguards named Durg (goes by single name), originally from Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, and Akash Kumar from Gopalganj in Bihar, were arrested for their alleged negligence resulting in the boy’s death.

“Durg started working there 10 days ago and Akash was just two days into his job. They did not pay heed that a five-year-old was going towards the pool meant for adults,” he said.

An FIR was registered against the lifeguards and other management authorities under section 106 (causing death by negligence) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita based on the family’s complaint, said Kumar, adding that further investigation was going on and police have CCTV camera footage of the entire incident.

Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said that they will inquire into the incident to ascertain if permission was sought for the pools inside the society. “We will also inquire if the realtor had permission to construct the pools,” he said.

Janardan Sharma, a neighbour of the victim’s family, alleged that police were provided the footage of several CCTV cameras in the club in which the boy was seen drowning at 6.48pm.

“He fell silent by 6.51pm. It was finally at 7pm that two children alerted a lifeguard about the boy,” he alleged.

Hemant Kumar, vice president of the local RWA, said that about ₹16.5 lakh is collected per month by the realty firm from almost 1,500 apartments in the township, but they still deployed no skilled lifeguards.

“There were four lifeguards and two security guards for the three pools but still such a tragic accident took place and a precious life was lost due to negligence of the firm management. The lifeguard who was nearest to the pool was busy on his phone. We had earlier also complained to the firm for proper upkeep but no attention was ever paid,” he added.

In a statement on Thursday, the real estate firm said that the swimming pool facilities, including the provision of lifeguard services, were managed by an agency named Ms. Sumit Swimming Institute. “We are cooperating with the authorities to support a thorough investigation into this heart-breaking incident,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition, we are working closely with the affected family to provide them with all possible support and assistance during this period of grief,” it said.