Angul, Sept. 8: Villagers of Tentulihata today demanded Rs 5 lakh as compensation for each of the two children who died on Friday after falling into a water-filled ditch near their anganwadi centre on the premises of a local upper primary school.

The Odisha government had promised ex-gratia of Rs 20,000 to the families of Monalisa Naik and Priyanka Nayak, both four years old, but the villagers refused to accept the amount.

The two children were returning home from the centre in the afternoon when they fell into a five-feet deep pit and drowned. The pits had been dug by contractors for the construction of an annex to the school building.

This is the second mishap at an anganwadi centre in the state in three months, the last one having taken place in Nayagarh when seven children died following the collapse of a wall at a centre there in July.

“The two children died after falling into the water-filled pit in the afternoon after their classes were over. The Red Cross had provided each of them Rs 20,000 but they want more. An investigation is on and a case of unnatural death has been registered,” said the inspector in charge of Banarpal police station, Rashmikanta Mishra.

“There was an inquiry by four officials, including me, into the incident as ordered by the collector and the report is ready for submission. We are taking measures to prevent such mishaps,” said S. Swain, the block development officer of Banarpal.