Mumbai: Contractor fined Rs 5 lakh after child drowns in pit

While the MMRDA is still awaiting the police report to determine culpability, the police have booked the contractor for causing death due to alleged negligence. They also intimated MMRDA on a list of precautionary measures they need to take to prevent such incidents.

Jyotsna Rasam, senior inspector, Vanrai police station, said the agency had been asked to barricade the pit and post security guards at the site to ensure no one approached it. “Prima facie, there is negligence on the part of the contractor. We are investigating,” she said.

Meanwhile, MMRDA is also considering providing the victim Sheetal Mishra’s family a compensation of Rs 2 lakh. “We will provide them compensation based on the police report. If the contractor is found guilty and foul play is ruled out we will give the family Rs 2 lakh,” Darade added.

Sheetal, who lived with her parents near the construction site, had stepped out to buy chocolate on June 10. When the child did not return, the parents began searching for her and found her body floating in the pit.

She was immediately rushed to Hindu Hruday Samrat Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care centre in Jogeshwari but the doctors declared her dead on arrival.

According to the mother of the deceased, Mangal Mishra, the pit in which the child drowned was not barricaded at the time of the incident.

MMRDA insists that barricading was adequately done at the time of the incident. “The site was well barricaded and space was only left for the labourers to enter the site. The pit was also covered by a net. However the child slipped into the pit from the narrow gap beneath. An adult would not fall into the pit,” said a senior official.

The family said they had not been approached by the authorities yet. “We lost our child due to their negligence. After the incident they have tightly barricaded the area ensuring there is no more casualty. But neither the police nor the MMRDA has approached us regarding the case. If we get the compensation amount it will help us take care of our other child, but we also want speedy justice,” said Karan Mishra, Sheetal’s father.