5 children, teacher drown in Medchal's Malkaram lake; pleas for fencing go unheard

Hyderabad: Five children and their teacher drowned in Malkaram lake in Jawaharnagar in Medchal Malkajgiri on Saturday. According to sources, they had come to attend a housewarming ceremony. The incident happened when they went swimming. When their teacher tried to save them, he also drowned.

Residents of the area have been requesting for safety measures like proper fencing but their requests fell on deaf ears.

According to sources, four more children have died in the lakes in Jawaharnagar since March 2022. In a similar incident in March 2022, three kids had gone for an afternoon swim. One of them knew how to swim, but all of them died.

Hima Bindu, a child rights worker in urban slums of Jawaharnagar, sent three applications to the State Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (SCPCR) in April 2022 on behalf of the families who lost their children in March 2022. But she said although they responded in May, no action has been taken so far.

"We have been asking the officials to do the bare minimum—to have high fences, CCTVs, and warning boards in all seven lakes here," said Hima.

In May 2022, the SCPCR had written to the collector of Medchal Malkajgiri and had marked a copy to the Telangana Women and Child Development (WCD) department to take action. But the officials remain silent.

"The plight of the bereaved families who have lost their children is unimaginable. Our sincere request is to do the needful at least now, besides financially supporting these families, as all of them are from marginalised communities," added Hima.