Indian Express 31.08.2010
Four children ‘drown’ in pit at solid waste management plant site
Express News Service Tags : accident, drown case Posted: Tue Aug 31 2010, 06:43 hrs
Lucknow: Four children in the age group of 8 to 11 drowned after they allegedly fell into a pit filled with rainwater at the under-construction site of a solid waste management plant in Sasanigate area of Aligarh district on Monday.According to Aligarh ASP, Man Singh Chauhan, the family members of the victims have refused to get the postmortem examination conducted. No complaint was lodged into the matter too, he said. The Station Officer (SO) of Sasanigate police station, Manoj Kumar Sharma, said that Arshad (11), his sister Aanam (10) and their neighbours, Shoeb and Tabassum (both of 8 years), all of Bhujpura locality, were last seen playing in the water at the municipal corporation construction site at noon.
The family members of the kids started searching for them when they did not return till late in the noon. The locals later searched the pits around the construction site and found the bodies of the four kids there, the SO said.
The locals created a ruckus demanding a compensation for the next to the kin of the deceased. The families of each of the deceased were handed over Rs 10,000 each and the District Magistrate (DM), Ravindra Nayak, assured more compensation.
The A2Z Infrastructure Pvt Ltd is developing the municipal solid waste management plant over a land of 25 acres provided by the Aligarh Municipal Corporation (AMC). The company authorities, however, have raised doubts if the kids drowned in the pit at the construction site.
When inquired about the deaths, the AMC Municipal Commissioner, Mahak Singh, said: “The A2Z group is developing the solid waste plant in an area of 25 acres provided by us. There are several pond-like hollow spaces full of water these days. The kids probably had gone to catch fish from the place and fell into one of pits and drowned.” When asked about the compensation, Singh replied, “The company is not responsible for the deaths.” Meanwhile, the Joint MD of A2Z, Rajnish Mehra, said, “The pit in which the kids reportedly fell and drowned has been measured by our staff and it is found to be 3 ft deep only. Even the kids between 8 and 11 years cannot drown in a ditch of 3 ft. Besides, the family members refused to get the postmortem conducted. We have given a complaint to the Aligarh police demanding to get the postmortem conducted to know the exact cause of the deaths.”
