NELLORE: A pall of gloom descended on Bazaar street and Buttalapalli localities in Kavali town, following the death of seven boys, who drowned in Peddacheruvu tank on Tuesday.The seven class ten boys of Minerva English Medium School, Kavali preparing for their exams slated to begin from March 26, had gone for a bath in the tank and drowned.Normally, in the beginning of the summer the tank has only two to four feet water. But waters from Kavali canal were released into Peddacheruvu tank in Vaikuntapuram area for rabi crop and the level rose up to 15 feet resulting in the death of the children. The sad think was that parents were not aware that their children were in the tank and thought that they were in school attending special classes. The dead boys Sai Pradeep, Suraj, Rohit, Ravi, Sivakumar Reddy, Praveen and Saikumar were very good friends and were living in Bazaar street and its adjacent Buttlapalli locality. As usual they returned home after school which closed down at 1 p.m. The schools due to summer, have only one session, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.After partaking lunch, the children took a break from their studies, and came out of their homes. They met and proceeded to Peddacheruvu for a bath on bicycles. The children, one after another got into the water, unaware that the water level had increased dangerously, due to the release of water on Monday night.It is believed that, while bathing one or two inadvertently drifted into deep waters and drowned. Others who tried to save them also met with the same fate, as all of them could not swim. As it was a hot afternoon, no one noticed the children in the tank.Around, 11 p.m. a person from Vaikuntapuram noticed the cycles and school bags on the tank bund and suspected something amiss. He informed Kavali Two Town police station who immediately reached the tank.Swimmers from the area were pressed into service and they retrieved e seven bodies after much efforts at 2 p.m, according to district collector, B Sridhar.
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