The New Indian Express 22.04.2010
One year on, BBMP yet to act
BANGALORE: The tragedy of eight-year-old Abhishek slipping into an open drain and drowning almost a year ago is still fresh in our minds but the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike seems to have forgotten its promise to ensure that such accidents do not recur. The drain into which the child fell is still lying uncovered giving the impression that the BBMP is waiting for more such accidents to take place before they get round to undertaking the work of covering drains in and around Bangalore.
BBMP started work on fencing all the open drains immediately after the incident in May 2009. However, the pace of this work slowed down drastically after a few days. Now, almost a year later, the fencing of such spots is pending at several places.
“Though the BBMP was quick enough to fence and desilt the drains in and around our locality, they have kept the work of laying slabs over the tertiary drains pending,” said Sudip, a resident of Lingarajapuram.
The BBMP, however, denied the allegations. “The work on fencing is in progress across the city and among the allotted works, fencing at two places is pending. However, we have proposed new locations to be fenced and once this is approved, the work will begin.
The drain into which the boy slipped and drowned is a tertiary drain, which cannot be fenced. The slabs can be fixed only in front of the houses,” said Prabhakar Kini, chief engineer, SWD, BBMP.
The BBMP official added that the work on the tertiary drain should be undertaken at the ward level and would be completed before the monsoon.
“The work on desilting of drains and fencing is nearing completion in our ward and the work on laying of slabs is pending. We will take up this work at the earliest,” Lingarajapuram corporator Lavanya Ganesh told The New Indian Express.
“We do not want another incident such as that which claimed Abhishek’s life to take place in our area. Therefore, our priority would be to complete the work on covering all the drains. Once the council meeting is held and budget announced, the work will begin,” assured Lavanya.
