June 11: The second tragic incident within a month of a child drowning in a swimming pool has left the parents of the kids angry and hurt.

The boy, Parth Harihar, had died in the Priyadarshani Indira Gandhi Swimming Pool, Mulund, at 5.30 p.m. on Monday.

His father, Anil Harihar, blamed the negligence of swimming pool staff for the death of his son. ``My son's head was under the water till he stopped breathing but the staff standing there didn't notice him. Only one coach was supervising more than 10 children, and he couldn't see my child even when he was floating by,'' he charged.

Harihar is a resident of Himmatnagar in Gujarat and had come to Mumbai recently to enroll his two sons, Parth and Pratik, in a swimming course. They were staying with his elder brother at Mulund.

``I don't want the same tragic incident to be repeated so I am planning to take action.'' Harihar added.

But the pool authority blamed the ill health of the child for his death. Mangesh Sawant, a staffer, said, ``The child was resisting coming here for the last few days due to his health, but his mother forced him to come, as it would have cost Rs 50 a day as fine for not attending the session.''Sawant added that the mother of the boy was also sitting in the gallery on the fateful day and by the time first aid was given it was too late.

The manager of the pool, Subodh Sule, said, ``Monday is a holiday in our office so very few staffers were present. But still we tried our best and immediately rushed the kid to the hospital but he was already dead.''

Prakash Sedekar, whose daughter Priyanka had died in similar circumstances in a Dombivli swimming pool, expressed his anguish and said parents must take serious action now if they want to save their children. ``I had filed a case when my child was drowned and both the lifeguard and the manager of the pool were arrested under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, which amounts to culpable homicide (causing death unintentionally). But now they have been released on bail as the police treated the incident under Section 304 (A) as a case of negligence,'' he said.

Warning parents, Sedekar said, ``People must learn a lesson from such incidents before something happens to their children.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.