50 guards and 350 staffers, yet kid drowns in JMP lake?
LUCKNOW: There were 50 security guards and 350 employees at the Janeshwar Mishra Park (JMP) here on Monday afternoon and yet a six-year old boy drowned in the artificial lake of the park?
This question seems to have puzzled many, but SP Sisodia, udyan adhikari of LDA that oversees the park management, says a security guard “warned the kids (the deceased was accompanied by two other children) not to go near the lake”.
That was all. As the guard left, the children again went near the lake and while playing the boy named Krishna slipped into it and drowned. Krishna had gone to park with his friends, siblings Lalu, 4, and Kallu, 6.
There were no visitors near the lake when Krishna slipped into it. Lalu and Kallu raised an alarm but no one, not even the security men and park employees, was nearby to hear them. The siblings then ran a distance of about 100 metres and managed to draw the attention of some park visitors there. When Krishna was eventually brought out of the lake after about half-an-hour, it was too late. He was rushed to Lohia hospital where he was declared brought dead.
“This tragedy clearly proves the laxity on part of the security personnel. The guard who warned the kids should have sensed that they will return to the lake if left unchecked. He should have ensured that they left the park,” said an LDA official who did not want to be named.
Absence of proper arrangements also marred the boy’s rescue efforts. Visitors complained that there were no life guards or floats available near the lake.
“It is a huge lake, yet there is no equipment to save someone who is drowning. The guards don’t even have a rope or sticks,” complained Surendra Singh, a regular at the park. “The only measure the authorities have taken is to put up a sign board warning visitors against going too close to the lake,” he added. Krishna’s father Ram Gopal, a barber, lives with his family near the JMP. He wants nothing but justice.
BLAST FROM THE PAST
In November 2015, Shubham, 22, a B.Tech student had drowned in the lake. Then LDA had announced several safety measures. Presence of a life guard, fencing of the water body and reducing its depth by dumping sand in it were among major decisions taken. But even after three years of the incident, these decisions are yet to be implemented.
LUCKNOW: A day after a six-year-old boy drowned in the lake at the Janeshwar Misra Park (JMP), family members and neighbours of the deceased, Krishna, staged a demonstration on Tuesday by placing his body at gate no 1 of the park, demanding action against the guards responsible for the tragedy.
The agitators also demanded compensation for kin of the deceased.
Family members of the deceased, including mother Sumitra and father Ram Gopal, along with a large number of neighbours had reached the Janeshwar Misra Park from the post-mortem house.
“We want action against the security guards. They failed to discharge their duties and could not save my child,” alleged Ram Gopal who runs a roadside saloon. The boy’s mother is a domestic help.
After getting information, SP Sisodia, udyan adhikari, Lucknow Development Authority, reached the spot.
Additional city magistrate, Salil Kumar and station house officer, Gomti Nagar police station, DP Tripathi, also reached there. The cops had a tough time pacifying the protestors and pursuing them to cremate the body.
The people staged a demonstration for more than one-and-ahalf hours. Later, after much persuasion of the LDA staff and cops, the kin of the deceased ended the protest and left to cremate the body. “A committee has been constituted to probe into the incident. Security lapses, if any, will be checked and corrective measures will be taken,” said PN Singh, vice-chairman, LDA.
Executive engineer PC Pandey will head the committee and submit the report to the LDA vicechairman. According to LDA officials, there was no provision in development authority to provide compensation in such incidents.
However, the LDA V-C will put forward the compensation issue before the state government.
On Tuesday, staff at the Janeshwar Mishra Park provided life jackets to the visitors who went near the lake.
“In future, a permanent life guard will be stationed at the lake,” said SP Sisodia, udyan adhikari, LDA.
“No FIR has been lodged in the case as no application for the same has been received,” said DP Tripathi, station house officer, Gomti Nagar.
A committee has been constituted to probe into the incident. Security lapses, if any, will be checked and corrective measures will be taken.
PN SINGH, vice-chairman, LDA