Man drowns in NIPER pool

A 40-YEAR-OLD man drowned in a swimming pool inside the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER) Sunday.

The police identified the deceased as Sunil Bagga, a resident of Phase 11. The incident took place in Sunday around 7.30 am when Bagga swam into the deep end. Bagga was working as a manager with Ola Cabs. He had recently started swimming only recently.

The police have booked two persons, the contractor and his manager, for negligence after people present at the spot claimed that the contractor had not made any safety arrangements. The oxygen cylinder was also found empty at the time of the incident, said the police.

The NIPER management leased out the swimming pool to a Davinder Lamba, a private contractor and a Delhi resident, a few years ago. The police said it was also the responsibility of the NIPER management to keep a check that whether the private contractor is following the safety norms or not.

According to eyewitnesses, Bagga’s son was also inside the pool when incident took place. The boy raised an alarm when he saw his father struggling to come out of the water. There was no guard present nearby and by the time a guard arrived, it was too late.

Bagga was brought out of the pool and the guard tried to give him Oxygen but the cylinder was empty. Later, Bagga was taken to a nearby private hospital where he was declared dead by doctors.

Nirbhay, a family member of Bagga, alleged that the manager of the contractor earlier tried to wash his hands of the matter by saying Bagga was died due to cardiac arrest but later doctors confirmed that he was died as water entered his lungs. He also alleged that there were no safety arrangements at the pool.

Bagga’s body was sent to the mortuary at civil hospital in Phase VI and will be handed over to the family after the post-mortem.

NIPER Registrar P J P Singh Waraich was unavailable for comment despite repeated calls and text messages.

Acting director of NIPER, Dr K K Bhutani, said he was out of station and that he was unaware of the incident. He, however, added that action would be against the contractor and that the contract would be scrapped Monday.

Sources in NIPER said the contractor had not followed the safety norms and there was no doctor present at the time of the incident. The sources said that in the past, the NIPER management had also issued a strict warning to the contractor but he had ignored it.

Naveen Pal Singh Lehal, Station House Officer (SHO) of Phase XI, said a case had been registered against the contractor Davinder Lambha and his manager Rajeev Kumar, who is a caretaker of the swimming pool under sections 304 A (death due to negligence). He added that both would be arrested soon.

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