Greater Noida: 6-year-old drowns in 15-foot pit at housing society
New Delhi: A 6-year-old child drowned in an open pit inside a housing society in Greater Noida on Saturday. Residents said that the pit was filled with rainwater and there were no warning signs or barricades put up around it. The deceased was identified as Avyann Surya.
Boy slipped and fell in the pit: Residents
According to a report in NDTV, Surya was playing cricket with his friends when he allegedly slipped and fell into the water-filled pit. The incident happened at Kaladham Society, a colony for artists. The pit was dug by Greater Noida Authority for boring work and was filled with water.
Surya, whose father is a teacher in Kendriya Vidhyalaya was rescued by residents of the society and rushed to a hospital. But doctors at the facility declared him dead.
An eyewitness, Pranjal Rajput said that the incident took place at around 7 PM. He said that a child came running to him while he was washing his car and said that someone had fallen into the pit. He claimed that the child’s words left him puzzled, as he could not understand how someone could drown in society.
Rajput then rushed to the site with the child and saw a security guard standing there. The guard then jumped into the pit and began efforts to rescue the child. Soon after, other society members rushed to the spot. 3 to 4 people also entered the pit and entered the muddy water. After searching for around 5 minutes, one of them managed to locate the child’s body. The man then pulled out the child, holding on to his feet, said Rajput.
Rajput said that he helped pull out the child from the pit. He said that after bringing the child out of the pit, they tried their best to revive him but failed. They then rushed him to a hospital. However doctors failed to save the child.
The people involved in the rescue operation said that they had no idea that there was a pit in the housing complex. Rajput said that this was a grave negligence.
‘No child could have swum out’: Child’s father
Siwan Yadav, Avyann Surya said that he and his wife rushed out when they heard a commotion. He said that when they went out they were told that a boy had fallen into the open pit.
He said that he noticed that one of his friends from the society had jumped in to save the child. He said, “No child could have swum out of the deep pit.”
He blamed the negligence of authorities for the death of his child. The distraught father broke down. His wife, who is a nurse and worked with the Municipal Corporation of Delhi was equally distraught.
AK Singh, the General Manager of the Greater Noida Authority, said the pit was being dug “without the knowledge” of senior officials. He said that some time back the residents had approached the authority asking for a tube well to be installed. But this was to be installed at a nearby location, not at the spot where the pit was dug.
Singh said he had no idea why it was shifted at this particular location in the society.
He said that the contractor did not inform the authority, before starting the work, 2 days back. He said that proper barricades should have been put up, but the contractor just installed 2 bamboos to cover the area. This he said was not enough protection.
Meanwhile, the contractor of the firm, carrying out the digging process, Manoj Jain has been arrested. A case has also been registered against the Greater Noida Authority’s supervisor, Johnny, and the technical supervisor, Akash Rajput.