Two young men lost their lives in a tragic drowning incident in a rainwater-filled pit in Randha village, Fatehgarh, Jaisalmer, on Wednesday evening, police confirmed. The victims, identified as Mukesh Nath, 22, from Randha village, and Mev Nath, 24, from Barmer district, were farm laborers who drowned while bathing in a pit on a local farm, highlighting the hidden dangers of monsoon-flooded water bodies in Rajasthan.
Station House Officer (SHO) Rajesh Kumar of Jhinjhinyali Police Station reported that the incident occurred when the duo, after arriving at the farm for work, went to bathe in a nearby pit filled with recent rainwater. “They likely ventured into deeper waters and couldn’t make it back,” Kumar said. When the youths didn’t return, locals launched a search, discovering their footwear near the pit, which prompted immediate action.
Initial efforts by local police and villagers, using JCB machines to drain the pit, proved futile due to the pit’s depth—estimated at 15-20 feet with 8-10 feet of water, according to local accounts. A State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) team from Jodhpur was summoned late Wednesday night. Equipped with diving gear and ropes, the SDRF conducted a meticulous search, recovering the bodies early Thursday morning after hours of effort in challenging conditions.
Also Read: ITBP Bus Plunges into Sindh River, All Rescued
The incident echoes similar tragedies across Rajasthan this monsoon season. On July 15, two 12-year-old boys drowned in a rain-filled pit in Jhalawar’s Sunel town, with SDRF teams searching for a suspected third victim. Heavy rainfall, driven by a Bay of Bengal depression, has caused widespread flooding, with Jaisalmer and Barmer recording 4-6 inches of rain in recent days, turning pits and ponds into death traps.
Post-mortems were conducted at a local hospital, and the bodies were handed over to the grieving families on Thursday. Mukesh’s father, a daily wage laborer, lamented, “We warned him about the water, but he went anyway.” The police have registered a case under section 194 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for unnatural death and are investigating the pit’s ownership and safety measures.
Authorities have issued renewed warnings about the dangers of bathing in rainwater-filled pits, urging residents to avoid such sites. “These pits, often dug for farming or construction, become treacherous during monsoons,” an SDRF official said, noting that similar incidents in Ajmer and Jodhpur claimed seven lives this month. As Rajasthan braces for more rain, with an orange alert for Jaisalmer and 17 other districts, officials are intensifying safety campaigns to prevent further tragedies.
Also Read: SDRF Rescues 40 Pilgrims from Landslide in Uttarakhand’s Sonprayag