Goregaon cops claim the rusty lid of the underground MHADA water tank broke the moment Vishal and Vikas Bojiya stepped on it while playing in the society premises
In a freak mishap, two brothers drowned in an underground MHADA water tank built in their society premises. The deceased were identified as Vishal (4) and Vikas Bojiya (11). Their bodies were recovered from the tank four hours after they went missing around 9 am last morning.
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Brothers Vishal and Vikas Bojiya fell into the water tank after its rusty lid (down) broke the moment they stepped on it
Speaking to mid-day, an officer from Goregaon police station said the brothers were playing in the society premises when they decided to pluck guavas from a nearby tree. It was while returning to the spot that the brothers stepped on the rusty lid of the tank, which gave away under their weight and they fell into the large tank. The tank supplies water to several buildings in the locality.
He added that around 12 pm, when the boys did not return home, their parents Sunil and Sangeeta decided to look for them. Unable to trace their children, the Bojiyas sought help from friends and neighbours. It was while searching for the boys that one of them discovered that the lid of the water tank was missing. Upon closer inspection, the search party found the bodies of Vikas and Vishal floating inside the tank.
Commenting on the boys’ death, a society member blamed the absence of the watchman at the time of accident and MHADA’s apathy in constructing a boundary wall around the tank. He claimed that a watchman has been deployed near the water tank to avert such incidents. Another police officer said based on the primary investigation, an Accidental Death Report (ADR) was registered and the bodies were sent to Cooper Hospital for autopsy. He added that the watchman had gone to answer nature’s call when the mishap occurred.
When contacted, MHADA CEO S S Zende said, “I’ll ask my officers to look into the matter at the earliest.”