TIRUPATTUR/CHENNAI: Four children drowned in two separate incidents in Tamil Nadu on Tuesday. While two girls, aged 10 and 14, drowned in rainwater accumulated in a 15-ft-deep pit at Chikkanankuppam Government High School in Vaniyambadi, a seven-year-old boy and his six-year-old sister drowned in a pit dug up for constructing a rice mill at Uthukottai near Tiruvallur on Tuesday night.
According to sources, a government contractor has been allegedly excavating sand on the school premises in Vaniyambadi for road work for the past six months and this led to a creation of a 15-foot-deep pit. Due to continuous rainfall over the past few days, the pit was completely filled with rainwater.
The victims, Monika (10), daughter of Govindaraj, and Rajalakshmi (14), daughter of Velu, were both residents of Chikkanankuppam panchayat. Around 5.30pm on Tuesday, Rajalakshmi, her younger brother, and Monika were walking near the school.
Kin blame official negligence, contractor booked
When they saw the large pool of water, the girls, unaware of the depth of the pit, started playing in the water and accidentally slipped and fell into the pit. The six-year-old boy, who accompanied them, hurried back home and informed his parents about the incident. But by the time the parents and neighbours rushed to the spot, the two girls had died, sources said.
Following the incident, parents and relatives staged a protest near the Ambalur police station for three hours alleging that the pit was dug up to take sand for road construction a few months ago and officials had not taken steps to close it. The families also filed a police complaint against the contractor, school headmaster, and Chikkanankuppam panchayat president, secretary, and VAO for negligence. Jayanthi (41), mother of Rajalakshmi, said,
“What was the need for such a large pit on the school ground? The officials responsible for negligence should be booked. I need justice for my daughter’s death.” Ambalur DSP A Vijayakumar said an FIR has been registered against the contractor under IPC Section 304A (death due to negligence). Tirupattur collector D Baskara Pandian told TNIE that there are allegations regarding sand being used for road construction and police are investigating it.
“I have instructed officials to close all pits located in and around schools throughout the district to ensure the safety of children.” Meanwhile, in Tiruvallur district, a pit dug up by a businessman for constructing a rice mill on a piece of land at Goonipalayam in Uthukottai, had left two siblings dead. Kuppan and Anitha, an Irular couple belonging to Rajapalayam village, were employed at the site. “The couple stayed with their two kids at the worksite,” a senior police officer said.
The couple’s children, Duraivel (7) and sister Sneha (6), did not go to school and stayed with their parents. “The building contractor had also employed several migrant labourers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. On Tuesday, construction work was not carried out due to incessant rain over the past few days. A six-foot-deep pit dug up for construction was filled with rainwater,” the police officer said.
On Tuesday, Anitha was cooking inside her temporary shelter and the kids were playing outside. “After a few hours, Anitha searched for her kids. Since she could not find them, she informed Kuppan, and the couple later found their kids floating in the water,” police said. The siblings were rushed to Thatchur primary health centre where they were declared brought dead.
On information, the Pennalurpet police registered a case and sent the bodies to Tiruvallur GH for postmortem. “Since the family has not given a complaint against the owner, we have not registered a case against him. We are also inquiring about the legality of the property,” the police officer said. Tiruvallur SP P Cephas Kalyan said a case under CrPC Section 174 (unnatural death) was registered based on Kuppan’s complaint.