Girl washed away in drain
Bengaluru: A 17-year-old girl drowned in an overflowing drain at Krishnappa Gardens in C V Raman Nagar on Sunday.
The body was recovered nearly 400 metres from her house.
The victim has been identified as Narasamma, daughter of Venkappa and Kashibai, who hail from Kalaburagi district. She had been living in the locality with her parents for the past 15 years.
Narasamma, a construction labourer, had gone to relieve herself early in the morning when she slipped and fell into the drain. A few residents rushed to the spot, but were unable to save the girl. Following the postmortem, the police handed over the body to the family. According to Narasamma’s relatives, she was to get married in two weeks.
With this, the total number of rain-related deaths in the city has gone up to 12 this monsoon.
“Following the heavy downpour over the past three days, the stormwater drains were overflowing. Local authorities have not taken any action so far. The government is responsible for the incident,” Prakash, a resident of Krishnappa Gardens, charged.
Most of the residents in the area come from poor backgrounds and work as labourers. They live in makeshift huts near the stormwater drains. The few houses in the locality do not have toilets and other basic amenities.
Mayor R Sampath Raj announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for Narasamma’s family.
The locals staged a protest when MLA S Raghu and corporator Aruna Ravi came to console the family members of the victim. As a means of crowd control, the police had to resort to mild lathicharge. The residents demanded that the authorities construct a fencing around the drainage to prevent such incidents.
Body found
The NDRF and fire brigade personnel fished out the body of 22-year-old Pushpa from a rajakaluve near Kumbalgodu on Mysuru on Sunday at 11.30 am. Pushpa and and her mother Ningamma were washed away in the drain at Kurubarahalli on Friday night.
