13-year-old Gurugram boy drowns in water collected in a pit on vacant plot

Residents allege that neither Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) nor the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) have responded to their tweets about stagnant water in a depression.

A 13-year-old boy allegedly drowned, on Sunday, in a pond that had formed after rainwater collected in the depressed area of a vacant plot in Sector 37-C, near Dwarka Expressway. Residents said they have repeatedly tweeted about the stagnant water, but neither HSVP nor MCG have responded.

The boy’s parents who live in a slum raised an alarm after he went missing. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Police said they have not received a complaint of negligence or culpable homicide. Sector 10 station house officer Yashwant Singh said no complaint of drowning was received on Sunday or Monday.

The incident took place around noon, general secretary of Takshila Heights residents’ welfare association, Vikas Bansal, who lives near the plot, said, adding that the boy lived in slums nearby.

Bansal said the boy’s parents raised an alarm in the slums after he went missing.

Another resident of Takshila Heights, requesting anonymity, said some divers pulled the boy out of the pond, which was about eight-foot-deep. “A lot of muddy water had entered his nose and mouth. We have noticed several children taking a bath in the pond earlier too,” said the resident.

“He was taken to a private hospital, where he was declared brought dead,” Bansal said.

No official from the HSVP or MCG was available for comment.