Three children drown in water tank at under-construction site

Three children, including two sisters, died after drowning in a water tank at an under-construction residential site of state-run Gujarat Housing Board (GHB) at Vivekanandnagar area near Hathijan village, police said today.
Investigation by Vivekanandnagar police revealed that the children accidentally fell into the open water tank on the ground floor of the construction site late last night.
The deceased have been identified as Harshil Nagekar (8), Riddhi Valekar (8) and her sister Darshna Valekar (11), all residents of Sadbhavnagar area of Vivekanandnagar.
"While playing near the site, these children might have fell into the open tank and died of drowning. Since its an under-construction site, no one knew about the mishap immediately," said Sub-Inspector of Vivekanandnagar V M Pujakar.

Later, when these children did not return home, their family members came here searching for them and found them floating inside the tank and informed us, said Pujakar.
Locals fished out their bodies and sent them to city based L G Hospital.

A case of Accidental Death (AD) was lodged this morning and police have started further probe into the matter, added Pujakar.
The grief-stricken family members alleged negligence on the part of the contractor for not covering the tank.
"Since the work is still going on, they should have at least covered the tank, as many children play near the site. We also found that not a single security guard was present when our children drowned in the tank," alleged a relative.

However, the contractor, Dinesh Patel, refuted these allegations. "We are taking all the necessary precautions required at a construction site. We have also deployed guards at the site. I don't know when and how these kids reached near the tank and drowned," said Patel.