Bengaluru: BWSSB’s negligence turns fatal as toddler dies after falling into open pit

Karthik, a two-year-old child, died after falling into a pit that was dug up to install a water pipeline by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) in Magadi. The incident occurred at Gollarahatti in Magadi station limits in Bengaluru on Monday, April 17. According to the reports, the local authorities did not place any warning sign board at the spot and ignored safety measures resulting in the fatal incident.

The boy was with his mother Hamsa, when he fell into the pit. Unable to help him due to her advanced pregnancy, Hamsa called his father, Hanuman, at around 10.30 am to inform him of the incident. When Hanuman (25) reached the spot, he found Karthik's body floating inside the pit. In his complaint, Hanuman alleged that water had filled the pit as the BWSSB did not close it after finishing the pipe laying work, which began nearly a month ago behind his house. “No warning signs or safety measures were in place near the pit,” Hanuman further alleged in the complaint.

An FIR has been registered against a BWSSB engineer and contractor under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Hanuman works as a painter and moved to Doddagollarahatti eight months ago with his family.

In the last month, two similar incidents were reported in which young children fell into borewells and could not be rescued in time. A 7-year-old boy was rescued nearly 24 hours after he fell into a borewell in Madhya Pradesh's Vidisha district, but he could not survive. In another incident in March, a rescue operation of at least nine hours to save a five-year-old boy who fell into a borewell in a village in Maharashtra's Ahmednagar district proved futile as he was pulled out dead.