Rautahat/butwal/dang, Aug. 14 -- The monsoon brings the familiar threat of floods and inundation to Nepal's southern plains. But for children, another danger is often closer to home: water collecting in pits, construction sites, open drains and unfinished infrastructure.

Roadside excavations, holes dug for brick kilns, ponds, irrigation canals and trenches around culverts and bridges can become deadly traps once filled with rainwater. The danger is often invisible. Children may have no way of judging how deep the water is before stepping in to play, bathe or swim.

Last Friday, 7-year-old Khushi Alam drowned in a water-filled pit beside a culvert in ward 5 of Yamunamai Rural Municipality, Rautahat district.

Khushi had gone to play with ...