Guj: 8-year-old boy drowns in water-filled pit outside govt school

Surendragnagar, Jan 28 (PTI) An eight-year-old boy drowned in a water-filled pit outside a government school in Gujarat's Surendranagar district, police said on Saturday.

Locals found the body of Kuldeep Munjpara floating in the pit outside the school in Dhama village while they were looking for him after he failed to return home till Friday evening, an official from Zinzuwada police station said.

Villagers have alleged that the authorities had dug the pit under a Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) scheme, but had failed to cover it.

"The boy drowned in a pit filled with water leaking from a pipeline. His body was recovered by villagers who went to look for him near the school," said sub-inspector N L Sankhat said.

No one had seen the boy going near the pit. The child's parents started looking for him when he did not return home till evening, the official said, adding that the body was sent for post-mortem.

Villager and community leader Suryakant Varsani said the administration has to take action to prevent such accidents from occurring in future. PTI COR KA ARU ARU