Bangalore : In a glaring case of negligence, an 8-year-old girl was washed away when she fell into a drain on Monday night. The incident occurred in the crowded Bannerghatta Road which has major IT firms, hospitals and the IIM-B.
According to the police, rainwater had flooded the road and the girl is suspected to have stepped into one of the gaps between slabs covering the drain, and sank into swirling waters. The victim Geetha had come to the city from Tamil Nadu’s Cuddalore for Dasara holidays and was staying with her aunt Lakshmi.
BBMP (the civic authority) sources said the slabs had been removed as the pavement was being relaid and the drain was being desilted. But locals said the area had not been barricaded. As Geetha slipped into the drain, Lakshmi raised an alarm and a passerby managed to hold the girl by her hair, but the child slipped away as the water current was too strong. The drain was about four feet deep and its opening four feet wide. Fire brigade was summoned and the entire length of the drain was checked for the girl. All efforts went in vain.
