Four-year-old boy drowns in pond at village near Vaniyambadi

A four-year-old-boy drowned at a community pond that was dug as part of the district administration’s initiative to save rainwater at Sunnambupalam village, near Vaniyambadi town, in Tirupattur.

A four-year-old-boy drowned at a community pond to save rainwater at Sunnambupalam village, near Vaniyambadi town, in Tirupattur.

The police said K. Nandakumar, 35, a farmer, and his wife N. Chitra, 32, went to their farmland in the backyard of their house on Thursday. Later, Ms. Chitra returned home to check on her son N. Gokul. When she went to her neighbour’s house, Gokul followed her without her knowledge. After a while, she realised Gokul was missing, and after searching, they found him in the nearby community pond, around 200 m from their house.

Immediately, the Alangayam police and fire fighters from Vaniyambadi were alerted, and the body was retrieved and sent to Government Taluk Hospital in Vaniyambadi. A case has been filed.

The police said the community pond was dug on government land in the village despite objections from residents owing to the thickly-populated area. The pond is one of the 1,400 that are being dug in 208 villages, covering all four taluks, such as Tirupattur, Vaniyambadi, Natrampalli and Ambur, to recharge groundwater in the district permanently. The work is expected to be completed in a month.