Two children die after falling into pit dug for drainage line work in Kalwa

THANE: Two children died after falling into a seven-foot-deep ditch dug at Kalwa for laying drainage lines on Saturday afternoon. The siblings – eight-yearold Nandini Gupta and six-yearold Anand Gupta – were playing in the area when the mishap occurred. Locals, who witnessed the incident, pulled out the children and rushed them to the nearest hospital, where they were declared dead on arrival.

The ditch, dug by a contractor for the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC), was barricaded from three sides, but one side was left open. The civic body and police said a case of negligence will be registered against the contractor after a thorough investigation.

The victims are children of a physically challenged couple, who beg to earn a living, and reside in a slum close to the site of the mishap. Kailasnath Gupta, 36, and his wife Saraswati, 30, have demanded action against the contractor, claiming no safety measures were in place.

“My wife and I are physically challenged and even though we beg, my daughter went to a civic school. We had planned to enrol Anand, too, in school this year,” said Kailasnath. “Our kids have been snatched away from us. It’s the contractor’s fault and the police should take action.”

The Guptas also alleged no TMC officials came to the spot of the mishap after their children fell in.

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