A Class One student died on Friday after allegedly drowning in the MCD pool, which was leased out to a private entity in Pritam Pura. Laxman, the 57-year-old grandfather of Taksh Rathi who drowned in the MCD pool, showed up as he recalls the incident: “No one helped my grandson when he was drowning… My grandson knew how to swim. He entered his pool and around the children who were present, say no one (lifeguard) was there. Now they have deployed a lifeguard, but no one helped my grandson when he was drowning…”

The family of the deceased is a resident of Shalimar Bagh and now claims that even after two days since the six-year-old’s death, no one from the Delhi government or the civic body has reached out to them. The family claims that Taksh suffered for 3 to 4 minutes inside the water, scorn[ing] the claim of the authorities, according to which he was in the water for only 3 to 4 seconds.

No Safety Infrastructure

According to the police officers, the premises had inadequate security arrangements and no CCTV cameras. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) said that it is cooperating in the investigation of the matter.

“The doctor has said he didn’t have any health issues and couldn’t have died if he was not in the water for so long,” said grandfather Laxman.

The leader of the opposition in MCD, Aam Aadmi Party’s Ankush Narang, says that the death was a result of gross negligence and administrative failure on the part of the Delhi government. “Despite charging, the MCD handed over the swimming pool to a private concessionaire without ensuring even the basic safety parameters…” said Narang.