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Review of temporary water bodies ordered as 6 kids drown in rainwater-filled pit in Gurugram
The bodies have been sent to the civil hospital and a post-mortem examination will be conducted on Monday
Six children, aged between eight and 13, drowned in a rainwater-filled pit in Sector 110 of Haryana’s Gurugram district on Sunday, police said.
The incident has prompted the district administration to announce a magisterial enquiry to identify such temporary water bodies and direct that such bodies be drained, officials said.
According to police, the boys, two of them siblings, left their homes at around 3pm to play in the water pits on a piece of land belonging to a private developer.
When they did not return home till 5pm, deputy commissioner of police Deepak Saharan said, their families raised alarm. “The family members reached the spot and found clothes and slippers of all the six children following which they tried to find them and got into the water but were unable to find them,” he said.
The locals informed the police control room around 5.30pm, following which PCR vans and a police team of Bajghera police station reached the spot, said Saharan.
“We informed the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), fire department and civil defence volunteers who reached the spot and a rescue operation was launched,” he said.
The body of one of the children, Deva, was recovered after which the families thought that other children fled the spot fearing the death of their friend, he said. It took two more hours to recover the remaining bodies, he added.
“It took almost six hours to complete the operation and bodies were recovered,” he said.
The children were identified as Durgesh, Ajit, Rahul, Piyush, Deva and Varun; all residents of Shankar Vihar Colony in Sector 111.
The bodies have been sent to the civil hospital and a post-mortem examination will be conducted on Monday, said Saharan.
Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav reached the spot along with sub-divisional magistrate. “Prima facie it was found that there were several pits on the six-acre land, and due to incessant rain water collected in the pits,” Yadav said.
Saharan said that locals had dug mud out of the land for domestic purposes.
“The children likely expected that the pits would be 2-feet deep but there were two more deeper pits of at least 12 feet deep and they did not realise and drowned in it,” he said.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh each for the families of the deceased. “Police have been directed to carry out investigation and legal action will be taken if anyone’s negligence is found,” Yadav said.
Yadav said they will review areas near residential areas where pits are more than two feet deep. “We will remove the water using motors from all such areas,” he said.
While none of the families has filed any complaints, police officials said prompt action will be taken against those found guilty.
A case will be registered against the developer once they receive the complaint from family members, Saharan said.
The families of the children were inconsolable on Sunday night. “We could not even see his face, his body was just taken away. I wish we had not allowed him to go out to play. He was restless since morning that he wants to go out to play but it was raining,” Deva’s grandfather, Om Prakash, said.
Bajrang Singh, Deva’s father, said that all six often used to play together.
“We did not realise that there is deep water logging in the area. This is one of the most unfortunate incidents where six children have lost their lives in a go,” he said.
