Child killers

The prevention of drowning deaths, the result of systemic inaction, must be a national priority.

Drowning is becoming a public health hazard in Nepal, particularly in the Madhesh Province. According to the World Health Organisation, Nepal ranks among the countries with highest drowning rates, with a death rate of 5.4 per 10,000 population. Abandoned open pits, unsecure ponds and rivers swallow people and devastate families every year. When roads are built in rural areas, contractors dig pits along the roads to elevate the land surface, which are then abandoned. The danger intensifies during the monsoon when rainwater fills the pits, concealing their depth. Some children who play or swim there to relieve themselves from the scorching heat never return home. Last week, two young boys from Kamala Municipality in Dhanusha district, who had gone out to play, drowned in a pit near an under-construction road only a few meters from their home.