Mumbai: 6-year-old boy drowns while playing near faulty bridge

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While playing near Wadol bridge at Ulhasnagar on Tuesday evening, a six-year-old boy fell into Waldhuni river and got swept away by the current. The Ulhasnagar cops along with fire brigade officials fished out the body on Wednesday morning. However, the child's parents claim that the bridge, which is lying in a precarious condition, with no barricades near it, led to the accident. According to police, the boy has been identified as Ganesh Jaiswar, who was a Std I student of St. Joseph School.

Civic negligence
Speaking to mid-day, Ulhasnagar municipal commissioner Rajendra Nimbalkar said, "The incident didn't happen because of the bridge. The boy's parents have confirmed that he was playing with some fishing equipment, when the accident took place." However, the deceased boy's parents claim that the accident happened due to the negligence of the civic authorities and the contractor, who had been assigned the construction work of the bridge.

Risky affair
After the Wadol bridge collapsed last year in August, the contract for its repair was given to AR Ramchandani. But, in May this year, a consultant of the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation checked the work and said that the contractor was using low quality construction material. Thereafter, on June 13, the corporation gave a notice to the contractor and asked him to stop the work. The deceased's father Buwal Jaiswar said, "No barricades have been placed near the bridge and people are also not stopped from using it. School kids and others use it on a daily basis."