Minor drowns while trying to pick up floating balloons from lake

The incident took place at 6.20pm on Friday when Bot, a class four student along with his friends were returning home from school. Incidentally, a couple was passing by the area but they ignored all calls for help from Bots classmates and left

Mumbai: In an attempt to pick up colourful floating balloons on Kandarpada Lake, a 10-year-old schoolboy slipped into the water and drowned on Friday evening.

On the banks of the lake, there is a sabha mandap (community hall), which has eight steps leading to the lake. The depth of the lake at the steps is around 15 feet. The steps are barred with a gate which is four feet and has a bench near the gate. (StockPic)

The deceased, identified as Shiv Narayan Bot, was inside the water for more than 45 minutes before he was fished out by the MHB Colony police and the fire brigade. The incident took place at 6.20pm on Friday when Bot, a class four student along with his friends were returning home from school. Incidentally, a couple was passing by the area but they ignored all calls for help from Bots classmates and left.

The MHB police officers informed that Bot and his friends took three different routes to go to their civic-run school. On Friday, they took the Kandarpada Lake route.

PSI Sandeep Gorade, from MHB police station, said that the three boys who were with Bot told them that when they were walking home from school, they noticed a few balloons floating in the lake, which is next to the Jari Mari temple.

“On the banks of the lake, there is a sabha mandap (community hall), which has eight steps leading to the lake. The depth of the lake at the steps is around 15 feet. The steps are barred with a gate which is four feet and has a bench near the gate,” said Gorade.

The boys then ran towards Bot’s house and informed his elder brother Vikas (21), who rushed to the lake. In the meantime, a passerby who had heard the screams of Bot’s friends called up the emergency number at around 7.10 pm.

After getting the call, the police rushed to the spot and with the help of the fire brigade, they removed Bot from the water and took him to Shatabdi Hospital, where he was declared dead at 7.30pm.

The police have registered a case of accidental death and are investigating further.

Bot who stayed with his brother and parents was academically well off. His father Narayan works as a housekeeping staff at a five-star hotel. “We are devastated and still in shock that he ventured into the lake just to pick up the balloons,” said Vikas.