Janakpur/rautahat, May 26 -- As the evening approached, Rambabu Sah and Shyambabu Sah of Sarabe village in ward 2 of Kamala Municipality in Dhanusha started getting anxious. For the whole of Tuesday, they had been desperately searching for their young sons-seven-year-old Ritik and five-year-old Ritish-who had gone out to play earlier in the day but had not returned home.

Their worst fears were confirmed when both boys were found drowned in a pit near an under-construction road just a few meters from their home. The pit, dug during the construction of an agricultural road by Jaya Baba Construction Company, had filled with rainwater over the past few days. The boys likely wandered into the area while playing and slipped into the water unno...