In a heartbreaking incident on Tuesday, an eight-year-old schoolboy, Manas Barik, drowned in a canal near Gobindpur village under Aul police station jurisdiction, Kendrapara district.
The boy was returning from school on a bicycle when he accidentally fell from a culvert and was swept away by the canal’s surging floodwaters.
Villagers discovered his bicycle lodged beneath the culvert, prompting an immediate search. Despite valiant efforts by residents and the fire services—whose arrival was delayed due to poor road conditions—the child’s lifeless body was recovered after nearly six hours and declared dead at the Gobindpur CHC.
Manas was the only son of Abhimanyu Barik, a fitter by profession. His death has cast a heavy shadow of grief over Gobindpur and neighbouring villages. The body has been sent for autopsy, and an official report is expected on Wednesday.
Locals expressed deep frustration over emergency delays and have demanded government aid for the bereaved family.
