‘No safety measures’: 2-year-old dies after falling in open drainage trench in Pune
The child's family alleged that the contractor failed to take any measures to drain the water from the pit and demanded action against officials who sanctioned the drainage work.
According to the complaint filed by the child’s mother, the trench was dug near their house eight to 10 days ago. (AI generated image)
An unidentified contractor has been booked after a two-year-old child fell into an open drainage trench near his house in a village in the Pune district and died last month.
The First Information Report (FIR) was registered against the contractor for causing death by negligence on July 1, after Soham Lakhan Kasbe died on June 30 in Kadam Wak Wasti Gram Panchayat.
“The rainwater used to flow into the basti during the monsoon. So, a drainage ditch had been dug at the villagers’ request. It was filled with rainwater and wastewater from the village. The child fell into it and died,” Pradeep Pawar, Inspector, Loni Kalbhor Police Station, told The Indian Express Friday.
‘He won’t come back now’
According to the complaint filed by the child’s mother, Shilpa Kasbe, the trench was dug near their house eight to 10 days ago. When she asked the JCB driver why the ditch was being dug, he told her it was being dug to prevent village wastewater and rainwater from flowing onto the road, as instructed by the contractor.
“Due to the excavation, a trench three to four feet deep and five feet wide was made on the road leading to our house… The said contractor did not take any measures to drain the water from the pit,” Shilpa said, according to the FIR.
Sushil Kasbe, Soham’s uncle, told The Indian Express, “Our child has died. He will not come back now. His father is a daily wage worker, and we demand that he should at least be given a government job.”
“Who gave the contractor the work? The gram sevak. Who gave the order to the gram sevak? The BDO (Block Development Officer). Who gave the BDO the order? The tehsildar. The case should be registered against all of them. What is the point in an FIR just against the contractor?” Sushil asked.
According to the complaint filed by the child’s mother, the trench was dug near their house eight to 10 days ago. (AI generated image) 
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