Staff Reporter
LONGO, 10 Oct: Three children on Saturday morning drowned in a flooded 9 feet deep pit dug by SKS Infra Projects Ltd for the construction of a culvert at Longo village in Tirap district.
The children have been identified as 12-year-old Kamlong Wangsu and 15-year-old Niman Wangsu, who were the son and daughter of Gantai Wangsu, and 10-year-old Gannya Nokbi, daughter of Hongan Nokbi.
Reportedly, SKS Infra Projects Ltd, which is currently undertaking the TAH construction work in the area, had left the pit uncovered and placed no cautionary signboard near it to warn people.
According to Longo GPC Hogang Wangsu, the incident occurred at around 9 am on Saturday, when the three children along with another boy from Longo village went to the nearby jungle in search of dhekia saag (fiddlehead greens) and unwittingly tried to cross the muddy pool.
The GPC blamed “the careless and unprofessional attitude of SKS Infra Projects Ltd” for the death of the children.
The families of the victims lodged an FIR on Saturday night, and the police have registered a case under Section 304 A/34 IPC.
Tirap SP Kardak Riba on Sunday informed The Arunachal Times that postmortem on the bodies was completed on Sunday afternoon and investigation is currently on.
“The police team, earlier on Saturday evening, reached SKS Infra Projects Ltd’s temporary office at 2 Mile area here but found it to be closed. We have also spoken to the highway department authorities and will issue summons tomorrow since offices are closed on Sunday. In the meantime, we have already issued summons to the head office of SKS Infra Projects Ltd in New Delhi,” the SP said.
Tirap DC Taro Mize informed that he has spoken with the highways department executive engineer regarding the incident and asked him to take necessary action.
The DC said that the administration has written to the disaster management director for initiating the process of disbursing compensation to the victims’ families.
APSCPCR takes suo moto cognizance
The Arunachal Pradesh State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (APSCPCR) has taken suo moto cognizance of the drowning of the three children.
The commission has directed the Tirap SP to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the incident, so that the guilty can be brought to book and punished as per the law.
Expressing grief and anguish over the incident, the commission requested the state government to provide compensation under the Arunachal Pradesh Victim Compensation Scheme, 2011 to the victims’ families. (With inputs from Tirap DIPRO)
