Bhubaneswar: A day after a 14-year-old boy drowned in Kuakhai river, one more minor Sunday met the watery grave while swimming in the river on the outskirts of Capital city.
The deceased has been identified as Nikhil Jena of Rameswarpatna in Lingaraj area of the city.
Nikhil had gone to take bath in the river along with his father Kanan Jena. Nikhil slipped into deep waters of the river while his father was answering nature’s call. Later, fire services personnel rescued the boy and shifted him to Capital hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead.
Notably, a 14-year-old boy, Maheswar Prusty drowned Saturday while taking bath in the river near Bankuala, the same spot where Nikhil met the watery grave.
Maheswar was the only son of Sridhar Prusty hailing from Balianta area. The incident occurred in the morning when Maheswar along with three of his friends had gone to have a bath in the river. Maheswar, who was swimming along with his friends, was drifted deep into the waters Saturday.
Meanwhile, locals alleged that the place has turned into a death trap for the persons taking bath due to rampant extraction of sand from Kuakhai river bed in blatant violation of rules. The uneven digging of river bed by using huge JCB machines has made deep trenches at many places along the river putting the life of the locals at a great risk. On the other hand, as per rules the miners can only use human labour to extract sand of specific quantity as allowed by the authorities.
Despite the brazen and limitless extraction with huge machinery, the authorities are yet to take any step against the sand mafia, reportedly out of fear.
