6-year-old boy drowns in Greater Noida fountain, residents blame GNIDA

According to the police, they were alerted at 3.50 pm by a resident who had spotted a child’s hand in the 4-foot-deep fountain. “We rushed the child to Yatharth Hospital. But the doctors declared him dead on arrival,” said a police officer.

The Residents Welfare Association (RWA) of Sector-P3 said the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) officials are responsible for the accident. “This is a fountain in our sector, which has been built at a huge cost but was not being maintained. This fountain has never worked and was filthy. The deeper area of the fountain often gets filled up with water. It got waterlogged today, leading to the child’s death,” Amit Bhati, the RWA secretary of Sector-P3, said.

The boy’s mother, Ruchi, who works as a domestic help said that her husband, Subhash, was out for work when Prithvi returned home after school around 2 pm. “I had gone to see my sister-in-law who was hospitalised. Around 4 pm, I got a call about my son’s condition. When I reached my son was lying unconscious,” she said.

Ruchi said that Prithvi had a hole in his heart and was undergoing treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Regarding the allegations of negligence, GNIDA stated that the reasons for the accident are being investigated and strict action would be taken against those found guilty.

“This is a very tragic incident. My deep condolences towards the bereaved family. We will ensure that the incident is not repeated in the future,” said Gunja Singh, Officer on Special Duty, GNIDA.

The police said Prithvi’s family originally hailed from the Shahjahanpur district of Uttar Pradesh and lived in a rented house at D Block. Subhash works in a packaging factory. The couple had three children and Prithvi was the eldest.