Gurugram: 5-year-old drowns in society swimming pool, residents rise in protest

Gurugram: Several members of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of BPTP Park Screen residential society expressed their outrage against its management in connection with a five-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool in the society.

The child drowned on Wednesday evening.

The residents in huge numbers approached Gurugram Police Commissioner's office and demanded action against BPTP management including Managing Director Kabul Chawla on Saturday.

They accused the lifeguard and the maintenance agency of gross negligence, demanding accountability and immediate action.

"The five-year-old boy drowned in a swimming pool at a residential society in Gurugram on Wednesday evening, allegedly in the presence of lifeguards," police said.

The child, identified as Mevansh Singla, was found floating in a four-foot deep pool at BPTP Park Serene in Sector 37D.

However, the police have arrested two lifeguards — Durg (30) from Madhya Pradesh and Akash (21) from Bihar — for their negligence while on duty.

The boy’s relatives and the RWA alleged the lifeguards failed to notice the boy moving to the prohibited four-foot-deep pool as they were playing on their phones at the time.

Hemant Kumar Pal, the RWA vice president, said that they have had several issues with the builder and BPMS, the management agency responsible for dealing with the maintenance, over the past few years.

“When the incident took place on Wednesday, the lifeguards were not even aware of it as they were engrossed in their phones. It was gross negligence on the part of the BPTP management as well,” Pal claimed.