Day after boy's drowning, three pits still remain open

A day after an 11-year-old boy drowned in a rainwater-filled pit, officials concerned were yet to fill up three such deep pits in the Rohini area park in north Delhi on Wednesday evening.

These three pits pose a threat to lives of hundreds of children who visit the DDA-managed District Park Avantika in Sector 1, Rohini.

On Tuesday evening Abdul Khalid, 11, drowned in a pit while playing with his friends.

A visit to the park on Wednesday evening revealed that several children were still moving around near the pit -- six feet deep, and around four metres long and two metres wide.

The pits are said to have been dug to dump waste.

"When we took his (Khalid) body out from the pit on Tuesday night, there was no fencing around it to cordon off the area," Khalid's uncle Mohammad Musafar, 23, told IANS.

"We come here every day, there is no barricading around the pits," Bhagvan Das, 18, said.

"At any point of time, there are two-three such pits in the park. Officials come with machines and dig pits and close those dug earlier," Vikram, 25, who frequents the park, said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Rishi Pal told IANS they are yet to fix responsibility for the boy's death.

"Negligence led to the boy's death. We are investigating the matter," he added.

Khalid's father, Mustaq, 35, a resident of Mangolpuri area, said: "I have filed a police complaint against park officials so that such incidents are not repeated. I'll fight as long as I can."

--IANS

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