MUMBAI: Five months after 11-year-old Granth Hasmukh Mutha drowned in a civic swimming pool in Mira Road, the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) has passed a resolution to offer a compensation of ₹5 lakh to his family. The amount is to be recovered from the security deposit of the contractor appointed to manage and maintain the Gopinath Munde Sports Complex, where the incident occurred on April 20.
₹5 lakh compensation for son’s drowning, demands action against contractor” title=”Drowning in Mira Road civic pool: Father rejects ₹5 lakh compensation for son’s drowning, demands action against contractor” />However, Granth’s father, Hasmukh Mutha, has refused to accept the compensation, demanding accountability instead. “The MBMC commissioner has not blacklisted the contractor, suspended the contract, or taken action against the officials who were supposed to monitor the contractor. I do not want the money—no amount can compensate for my child’s death. We just want the culprits to be punished so that no other parent has to suffer like us,” Mutha said.
An internal three-member committee, appointed by the MBMC, had on May 31 found the contractor and the pool management responsible for the drowning. The report cited gross negligence, inadequate safety protocols, absence of emergency equipment, poor crowd control, and untrained lifeguards as key factors in the tragedy.
Based on these findings, MBMC commissioner Radhbinod Sharma ordered that the civic body itself would take over the management and maintenance of the sports complex until the police investigation is complete. The order also stated that the contractor would not be eligible to claim any financial losses from the corporation. Additionally, the chief auditor has been directed to calculate the financial loss incurred by sports complex members due to the closure of the pool and submit a report within 15 working days.
The contractor, Saha Charitable Trust, has now been blacklisted, and the MBMC has submitted the inquiry committee’s findings to both the Naya Nagar and Navghar police stations. A charge sheet is currently being prepared.
“The management and contractor have been found guilty of deploying unqualified personnel. Lifeguards were not trained to respond to emergencies and failed to act in time,” an official said.
Granth had enrolled in a 15-day summer swimming camp with his friends Chaitanya Shah and Paksh Kothari. The sessions were scheduled from 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM on weekdays and 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM on Sundays. “Parents were not allowed inside during drop-off or pick-up,” said Mutha. “On April 20, I got a call around noon from Kunal Shah, informing me that Granth had drowned and had been rushed to Tunga Hospital.”
According to the inquiry report, Granth struggled underwater for nearly four minutes before another child alerted a lifeguard. The lifeguards then pulled him out but reportedly failed to perform CPR effectively. “It took around seven minutes for any help to be administered. By then, it was too late,” Mutha added.
Based on the report and the family’s complaint, the Navghar police have booked Narayan Nayak, 28, and Hingoli Nayak, owners of Saha Charitable Trust, along with two lifeguards—Arjun Kadam, 20, and Prathamesh Kadam, 23—under Sections 106 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.