A five-year-old boy, Suhas Gowda, drowned in a water-filled lift pit of an under-construction building in Bengaluru’s Kannamangala area on Wednesday, October 23. The accident took place around 9 am while Suhas was playing with his friends near the site. The five-foot-deep pit, intended for an elevator shaft, had filled with water after recent heavy rains. Suhas lost his balance and fell into the pit. His friends rushed to alert his mother, Srikanya, but by the time they returned, Suhas had drowned.
Suhas’s mother, Srikanya, is a labourer from Mulabagilu in the Kolar district and had been separated from her husband. The building where the incident took place is part of the Kannamangala Milk Dairy Association, which belongs to the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
According to reports, neighbours complained that no safety barriers or precautions were in place around the pit to prevent accidents. The pit was not covered and had no barricades to prevent people from falling. Neighbours pulled Suhas from the pit and rushed him to a hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
The Kadugodi police registered an FIR against the building’s owner and the milk dairy’s president, charging them with negligence leading to death. Authorities are now investigating the lack of safety measures at the construction site, which contributed to the fatal accident. Suhas had been living with his mother and grandmother near the site after his parents' separation.
Minister Priyank Kharge had announced that a consultative committee would be formed to address Bengaluru’s ongoing infrastructure issues after the recent downpour. The committee, led by Karnataka Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, will comprise stakeholders from the IT, BT, and Startup Vision groups.