Rs 5 lakh for ragpicker's kin

The BBMP has offered a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the next to kin of a ragpicker from West Bengal who was buried alive under the heap of garbage at Bellahalli quarry near Bagalur two days ago.

Speaking to DH, BBMP commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad said it had been decided to give his wife a job in the waste processing unit and a residential quarters near the quarry where the incident happened.

Mithun, believed to be a resident of Nadia district in West Bengal, was picking plastic material from the heaps of waste when suddenly a mechanised shovel pushed a huge heap of waste with soil into the quarry where Mithun was picking the recyclable plastic. As a result, he was buried alive. He was a resident of Rajanukunte.

BBMP joint commissioner (solid waste management) Sarfaraz Khan said, “The tragedy happened during mud-capping in the landfill. Many families living around there are ragpickers. They are important for us as they help in our cleanliness drive. But on most occasions, we do not know who these people and what their antecedents are. They claim they are from West Bengal, but they are said to be from Bangladesh,” said Khan.