Mira-Bhayandar News: Probe Panel Formed After 11-Year-Old Boy Drowns In MBMC Sports Complex Swimming Pool

Mira-Bhayandar: Five days after 11-year-old Granth Mutha died due to drowning at a civic swimming pool in Bhayandar on 20, April, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) finally constituted a panel to investigate the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate incident.

Comprising senior civic officials including- city engineer and sports officer, the panel is headed by the additional municipal commissioner. A resident of Bhayandar, Granth had drowned while learning to swim in the pool during a summer camp organized by a private agency roped in by the Saahas Charitable Trust which has been hired by the civic administration to run the MBMC-owned sports complex for a period of five years.

In response to the show cause notice, the trust has responded by claiming that all safety measures were in place, including certified lifeguards, sources said. However, questions are being raised about the inclusion of the sports officer as a member of the probe committee.

“Including the sports officer in the panel is a clear conflict of interest as she was supposed to shoulder the responsibility of monitoring safety measures at the sports complex. This could compromise the integrity of the investigation. Given the age of the victim and the nature of the incident, representation from the women and child development department would have been a better option.” said social activist- Jatin Dadhich.

Initially an accidental death report (ADR) was registered. However, the boy’s father-Hasmukh Mutha blamed sheer negligence and apathy towards providing trained life guards and proper life-saving arrangements which according to him led to the tragedy, following which an offence for negligence causing death was registered at the Navghar police station against four instructors.

The police have mysteriously shied away from naming the actual culprits who operated and managed the sports complex under the aegis of the trust, allegedly due pressure mounted by an influential politician of the area.

An investigating team from the Navghar police station is in possession of the hard drive of the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, the footage of which are being analyzed to reconstruct the sequence of events, determine potential negligence and identify those responsible for the child’s death. Meanwhile the sports complex has been temporarily closed, till further orders.

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