Chennai, September 8 (BPNS)

Madras High Court ordered the state government to fence abandoned stone quarries and to pay a compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to the families of two boys who died due to drowning in the waterlogged in an abandoned quarry at Vellore district.

Single bench judge, Justice R. Mahadevan of the Madras High court on Wednesday ordered the Tamil Nadu government and the leaseholder of the quarry to pay the compensation amount to the families of the two boys who drowned to death in the waterlogged in the abandoned quarry at Vellore.

Allowing two separate pleas moved by the parents of the two boys, R. Gideon 15, and S. Moses ,17 who drowned in one abandoned quarry in Vellore, the court said ,” Human lives are precious and loss of a life is not capable of evaluation in terms of money.”

The court said that the person or persons whose negligence resulted in the death of the boys are to pay the compensation. The court further observed that the death of the two children have a definite nexus to the negligence on the part of the state and the private leaseholder of the quarry.

The court said that both the government and the private leaseholder are statutorily and vicariously liable to compensate the families of the two children who drowned to death in the abandoned quarry.

The Madras High court also directed the state government to ensure that such abandoned quarries are properly fenced.