Families of 2 drowned kids get Rs 7.5 lakh each as relief

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to pay a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh each to the families of two children who died after drowning in a ditch in the last week of November last year.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to pay a compensation of Rs 7.5 lakh each to the families of two children who died after drowning in a ditch in the last week of November last year.

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The negligence of the civic agency was proved following an enquiry by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police on the orders of the court.

Police counsel Meera Bhatia told the court Crime Branch officials had taken action against two MCD officials.

The Court ordered immediate payment of Rs 50,000 to the family of each child and place Rs 7 lakh in a fixed deposit in favour of the family.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah had on December 2 taken suo motu cognizance (by itself ) of reports of the incident in the HT and issued notice to the MCD. The court also sought the response of the MCD councilor N Raja allegedly at whose behest the pit was dug.

The bodies of Arishit (4) and Arman (8) were found floating in the pit in a park filled with water upto five feet.

The brother of one of the victims spotted the corpses while playing near the ditch. Police said preliminary probe suggested they had drowned.

Construction and repair work was going on in the park. The pit was dug to dump construction material.

“No safety precaution was taken by the concerned authority while carrying out digging work. We suspect one of the boys fell in the pit while playing and the other jumped in to save him,” N S Bundela, DCP (Northwest) had said at the time.