6 children drown during Ganesh idol immersion in Kolar

In a tragic incident six children who went to immerse the Ganesh idol which they had made, drowned in a pond in Maradaghatta village of Kolar Gold Fields taluk in Kolar district on Tuesday.

The deceased include four girls - two of them sisters - and two boys. They have been identified as Tejashree (11), her younger sister Rakshita (8), Vaishnavi (12) and her younger sister Rohit (10), Veena (11) and Dhanush (7).

All the children had assembled together for playing since it was a holiday for school on the occason of Muharram. They made an idol of Ganesha from clay, offered pooja to it and took the idol for immersion in a pond on the outskirts of their village - Maradaghatta.

The pond is situated on the tank bed and soil was excavated from it using an earthmover recently. As a result, the pond had become more shallow and water had accumulated in it owing to recent rain. Andersonpet police said that the pond was around 8 feet deep. All the children are said to have entered the water pond holding each others hand and lost their lives. However, two more children, who accompanied them stood at a safe distance to witness the “immersion.” A farmer who noticed the children drowning made unsuccessful attempt to rescue them. He immediately called villagers to the spot.

A pall gloom descended on the village following the tragic incident. Usha, who lost her two children, works in a hotel. Her husband had died a year ago.

The Chief Minister has declared a compensation of Rs 2 lakh per child.