Saharsa, Oct. 28: Six persons, including five minor boys, drowned in a pond today while gauging its depth for safe Chhath celebrations in Saharsa, sending shockwaves on the eve of the biggest festival of the state.
The victims went to the pond near a petrol pump at Bhartiya Nagar, around 200km northeast of Patna, on the eve of Pehli Arghya (first obeisance to the Sun God in the evening) for a recce. One of them slipped while ascertaining its depth and went under water around 10.30am. The others tried to rescue him but their effort proved futile and they also drowned. The victims have been identified as Roshan (10), Sujit Kumar (11), Subham (13), Nitish (15), Ankit (15) and Basant Kumar (20).
Some residents of Bhartiya Nagar claimed that four more boys were missing and were feared dead. But Saharsa district magistrate Shashi Bhushan Kumar said he had no such information. “We have news about the drowning death of six boys,” he said.
Saharsa superintendent of police Pankaj Sinha said five boys lost their lives in the pond and another died on the way to a hospital. He told PTI a search was on for a missing boy, giving credence to the claim of the residents that a few were still missing.
A resident of Bhartiya Nagar said the boys went to the pond in the morning to erect barricades for the safety of the devotees. “One among them slipped and went under water while gauging the depth of the pond. The others drowned in a bid to save him,” said Bam Bhola Sharma, who was present at the spot.
The administration reacted to the tragedy promptly and the district magistrate reached the spot with some senior officials within a few minutes. They ensured that the bodies were taken to the government hospital for post-mortem. Saharsa sub-divisional officer (SDO) Rajesh Kumar Singh said an ex gratia payment of Rs 2.5 lakh would be made to the families of the deceased.
A pall of gloom descended on the town after the death of the six boys and the festive fervour took a backseat. The residents claimed that it was the first-of-its kind tragedy in the district during Chhath.
“The pond in which the boys drowned is on the premises of a petrol pump and people living nearby had started performing Chhath there three years ago. The administration had not notified the pond as a place for performing the Chhath rituals and the boys had gone there on their own to prepare the ghat a day before the first arghya would be offered,” said a resident of Bhartiya Nagar, expressing doubt if people would visit the pond tomorrow after the tragedy.
Singh, the SDO, said: “We notified the water bodies where devotees can perform the Chhath rituals well in advance. Proper security arrangements have been made at those places. The administration cannot do much if people decide to choose the place of performing rituals on their own.”
The grief-stricken families did not blame the administration for the tragedy either. “It is nothing but my bad luck that I lost my son on the eve of Chhath. I blame none but my fate for this tragedy,” said Shankar Ram, who lost his 10-year-old son Roshan.
Birendra Thakur, who lost his 15-year-old son Ankit, echoed Shankar and said had he decided against performing Chhath at the pond near the petrol pump, his son would not have gone to the pond to prepare the ghat.
