Now Reading: Four minor girls drown in Chirang pond, locals flag deep water bodies
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Four minor girls drown in Chirang pond, locals flag deep water bodies
Four minor girls drowned in a pond at Damugaon under Panbari police station in Assam's Chirang district on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Mashuma Khatun, 8, Rakiba Khatun, 9, Sanjuma Khatun,…
Four minor girls drowned in a pond at Damugaon under Panbari police station in Assam's Chirang district on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Mashuma Khatun, 8, Rakiba Khatun, 9, Sanjuma Khatun, 8, and Suhana Parbin, 10. Two of the girls were from Tekaimari village, and two from Damugaon.
Police said the circumstances leading to the drowning were not immediately clear. Chirang district SSP Dhruba Bora said the girls may have been playing after school and could have accidentally fallen into the water. Locals expressed concern over the excavation of deep ponds in the area, with some ponds reportedly 20 to 30 feet deep. A local resident urged the government to stop indiscriminate digging of ponds and also sought financial assistance for the bereaved families.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The Chirang incident is not isolated. In Assam's flood-prone and tea-garden belt, unmarked ponds dug for pisciculture or brick-making have repeatedly claimed child victims. No central database tracks these drownings, but local records suggest dozens of such deaths each year in the state's riverine districts. The Assam Panchayat Act gives village councils limited say over pond excavation, but enforcement is weak. The district administration can order a safety audit of all water bodies in Panbari revenue circle. The next step for the families will be approaching the Assam State Disaster Management Authority for ex-gratia relief, which typically ranges from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 4 lakh per victim. Watch for a Chirang deputy commissioner's order on pond excavation norms in the coming week.
Source: assamtribune.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
