Bangalore: Agonising Wait for Six-year-old Abhishek's Body
The Hindu
BANGALORE, Jun 3: More than two days later and still counting, the body of six-year-old Abhishek Prakash, who was washed away in an open drain on Sunday night in Lingarajpuram, has still not been recovered.
Rescue efforts spread close to 10 km away from the boy’s modest house on Lokesh Tent Road.
The search was called off for the day around 7 p.m. on Tuesday after the squads of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and the Fire Department worked all day scouring the drainage lines till the Nagavara Tank in vain.
S. Puttuswamy, Additional Commissioner (East), BBMP, told The Hindu he would depute four additional batches of pourakarmikas on Wednesday to resume the search even if it meant extending it to the raja kaluve (main stormwater drain).
Media criticism
Residents allege that the BBMP only swung into full action on Tuesday morning after media criticism, while the civic officials claim the search began on Sunday night. “We could not do a thorough search that night because of the heavy rain,” said a senior BBMP official. This cut no ice with the locals who described that effort as an eyewash.
BBMP Commissioner S. Subramanya visited the Prakash residence on Tuesday evening after much flak from all quarters. “A compensation of Rs. 1 lakh was given to the family,” he told The Hindu. He rubbished TV reports of the BBMP offering to fund Abhishek’s sister’s education, or offering Bharati, the mother, a job.
The tragedy that befell Abhishek’s family comes in the wake of the equally horrendous death of 60-year-old Venkateshwarlu, who drowned in an open stormwater drain in Fraser Town on May 22. He was riding his two-wheeler when the powerful current in the drain dragged him to his death. His wife has not been given any compensation. Both these incidents have raised many questions about the civic authority’s monsoon preparedness which it had boasted about a fortnight ago.
Abhishek’s neighbours say had silt been removed from the drains, his body would have been found by now. However, a senior BBMP official claimed the work had been stalled because of the Lokayukta inquiry — instituted in 2005 — into an alleged scam involving removal of silt from drains.
On his part, Lokayukta N. Santosh Hegde does not buy this argument. “The inquiry is independent of the work,” he clarified.
Earlier:
Life down the drain
BANGALORE: An open drain runs alongside where 6-year-old Abhishek used to live. The uncovered drain snatched his life away on Sunday. This has been the second incident in the last 10 days.
The BBMP is used to being unfazed in the face of criticism, but every time a life is lost, the already weak faith that people have in the authorities takes a severe beating. Uncovered storm water drains have always been a sore point for people. The project to cover and remodel the drains started about seven years ago and is still under process while at a few places even the tenders are yet to be issued.
BBMP special commissioner (admin) Shrikar told , “The Palike is taking all the necessary measures to avoid the occurrence of such incidents. Zonal-level officials have been directed to visit the localities and take immediate action if required. The officials have been asked to take steps in desilting and covering the open drains. Chainlinked fencing of the SWD is a continuous programme and the work of fencing is completed on a majority of the drains and for the rest the tender processing is happening. The fencing of all the SWD drains would be completed soon.” Along with the major drains, the palike is desilting and remodelling the small drains including the shoulder drains too. Zonal-level officials will also educate people on the dangers of walking across the edge of the waterlogged roads and walls of the open drains, he added. Senior officials are also closely monitoring the the works taken up which include desilting and covering the drains. The teams formed to attend to the rain-related problems is upgraded and equipped and they will on their toes all this season, he informed.
When questioned about the fact that Abhishek’s body has not been found yet, he said that the Palike workers along with the other forces are in search of the body and the operation is on.