Nagpur: In a heart-wrenching incident, two eight-year-old boys drowned in a water-filled pit created by illegal gravel excavation in Panchgaon village near Khairi Bijewada, located along the Mansar-Tumsar National Highway near Nagpur. The victims, Utkarsh Lokesh Lanjewar and Rehan Sanjay Sahare, were the only children of their respective families and were also related.
The tragedy occurred around 2 pm on Saturday when the boys went out to play. They wandered to a pit located barely 150 metres from their homes. The pit, filled with approximately five feet of water, was the result of unauthorized gravel digging, a menace that locals say has left behind several such hazardous sites in the area.
Gold Rate
28 July 2025
As the boys did not return home by sunset, anxious family members began searching the village. Their worst fears came true when they spotted the children’s slippers near the pit. Villagers entered the water and discovered the lifeless bodies of Utkarsh and Rehan, found lying on top of each other. Neither of the boys knew how to swim.
Ramtek Police were informed and promptly reached the site. A panchnama was conducted, and the bodies were sent to the Sub-District Hospital in Ramtek for post-mortem. As it was already late in the night, the autopsies were carried out on Sunday morning. The bodies were handed over to the grief-stricken families, and the cremation was held later in the afternoon amid an atmosphere of deep sorrow.
The incident has triggered outrage in the village, with residents blaming illegal gravel mining for endangering lives. Several villagers have urged the local Sarpanch, Ranveer Yadav, to take immediate steps to identify and fill all such pits to avoid similar tragedies in the future.
Tehsildar Ramesh Kolpe visited the families on Sunday to offer condolences. He clarified that while the children were not covered under the Gopinath Munde Shetkari Bima Yojana due to age criteria, the administration would explore compensation through the Rajiv Gandhi Vidyarthi Accident Insurance Scheme.
The deaths have once again highlighted the dangers of unchecked illegal mining and the urgent need for preventive measures to safeguard rural communities.
