Noida: The water-filled pit dug for a tubewell, where six-year-old Avyaan Surya slipped and drowned on July 25, was cordoned off with yellow barricades and warning tape on Monday. But the playground right beside it, where Avyaan would gather with friends every evening after school, remained empty, with the complex’s roughly 150 families too scared to send their children out.“It happened around 7 pm,” a security guard on duty told TOI. “Usually, the green patch is like a park where children play every evening. We thought no one would go towards that side. The work began a day ago. We usually keep an eye on the children, but since it was dark, we did not see when the child slipped and fell,” he said, adding that mostly guards remain near the gates.
On July 25, the six-year-old child slipped and fell into the pit that was left unguarded at Kaladham
Aside from a handful of workers carrying out electrical work on the premises of Greater Noida West’s Kaladham Society, a stunned silence prevailed inside the complex.The drowning triggered grief and anger among residents, with many asking how the excavation work was carried out by the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority (GNIDA) without informing the RWA or putting adequate safety measures in place.“No one informed me about the work. We don’t even know when they (the workers) came, dug the pit and left. It all happened overnight. It was the Authority’s responsibility to ensure the work was carried out safely,” RWA president Devendra Shukla said. He added that the idea that heavy excavation work could be authorised and executed without a single word to the RWA has left residents furious.GNIDA had dug the 15-foot tubewell pit inside the society to address its frequent water supply-related complaints. On Sunday, the Authority terminated two officials for alleged negligence. GNIDA CEO Ravi Kumar NG said a preliminary inquiry found that the contractor had started work without putting mandatory safety measures in place at the site.
Last rites of six-year-old Avyaan Surya were performed on Monday
“The contractor has been blacklisted, and a police complaint has been registered against him. The inquiry also found negligence on the part of the water department. Technical supervisor Akash Kumar and supervisor Johny Kumar were terminated from service for failing to discharge their duties,” he said.For parents in Kaladham, the tragedy has altered, almost overnight, the way they see the ground their children have played on for years. Priyanka, a resident whose son is the same age as Avyaan, said the boy has been asking questions since Sunday that she has struggled to answer. “My son is the same age as Avyaan. Since yesterday, he has been asking why that boy never came back home. We are scared every time our children step outside,” Priyanka said.She said the play area beside which the tubewell pit was dug is not a peripheral or rarely used patch of the society. “Children routinely play in these spaces inside the society. A child cannot understand the danger. There should have been proper barricades, warning signs and supervision,” she said.Pranjal, another resident of the society, said it could have been any child. “A family has now lost its son because basic precautions were not taken,” he said.Residents have demanded a comprehensive safety audit of all ongoing construction and civic works inside residential societies, insisting that Authority be held accountable not just for the immediate lapse but for ensuring that all active excavations across the sector are properly barricaded, marked and monitored going forward.“The least the Authority can do now is ensure that no other family has to suffer this kind of tragedy,” Shukla said. “They always suspend the junior staff, but this should not be the way. Responsibility should be taken by the senior officials as well. We are not letting this go.”
