18-month-old washed away as heavy rains lash Bangalore

A 50-member team from the fire department has been deployed to search Vijay, son of Lakshamma and Vardharaju - migrant labourers from Tamil Nadu.

According to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (Greater Bangalore City Corporation) officials, the boy was playing along the drain Wednesday morning and slipped into it.

The mishap happened at Royal Residency Layout, near Madivala Lake, about 15 km south of city centre. The lake is spread over around 115 hectares.

Satish Reddy, Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Bomannahalli constituency in which the area falls, tried to pacify the agitated residents of the area by accepting lapses on the part of the government in dealing with the problem of open drains in the city.

"We accept lapses on part of the government to deal with the problem of open drains in the city. Search operations are on to find the boy soon," Reddy said.
"A 50-personnel team of the fire department is searching for the boy. Four excavators are also searching for the boy in Madivala Lake as there is every possibility of the boy being taken by strong currents to the lake," said an official of the city corporation.

The incident is a re-run of the episode of six-year-old Abhishek Prakash who too fell into an open drain in the city on the night of May 31. His body has not been found.

Bangalore city has a number of open drains which get flooded during monsoon. After the Abhishek tragedy in May, the government had announced it will fence all the drains. So far only a handful have been fenced.