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Tragedy unites families of Sanjana, Prakash

Last Updated 28 April 2011, 19:07 IST

The pain has now translated into a bonding between the two families to fight the Palike, which has been responsible for the loss of the two precious lives.

The parents of Sanjana have offered voluntary assistance to the family of Prakash, an engineer, who was killed when a wall of the BBMP Freedom Park collapsed on him in the rain on April 23 evening.

Sanjana died in a similar tragedy last year when the Veterinary College wall, built by the Palike, crashed on her.

Says Sanjana’s father Ashok Singh: “My painful past came to haunt me the moment I saw the pictures (of Prakash) on the television. I was fortunate in a sense that people of all hues came forward to console and support us when tragedy struck my family. But here (in Prakash’s case), there is no such thing taking place. I am shocked why no government agencies are taking up the case.”

Singh said he was ready to help Prakash’s family. “I will not only support this case, but also all the campaigns against corruption,” said Singh.

Meeting Lokayukta

The relatives of Prakash, a native of Shimoga, are coming to Bangalore on Friday to lodge a complaint with the Lokayukta against the contractors who built the faulty wall that killed the young engineer.

“We are not going to spare anyone...We will take the case to its logical end,” said Prakash’s relative Shankaralinge Gowda.

He said he would meet the parent’s of Sanjana and seek their guidance in fighting the case.

Bid to bury case

The entire government machinery seems to have ganged up to cover up Prakash’s case. While the BBMP is reluctant to lodge a complaint against any of the contractors who built the wall hardly six months ago, the police are not keen on taking up investigation into the disaster.

The insensitivity of the government machinery could be measured from the fact that the Palike just gave ordinary information about the wall collapse to the Upparpet police without holding anyone responsible for it. It has also not initiated any inquiry into how the wall — which was built as part of the Freedom Park renovation project worth Rs 18 crore — collapsed.

The portion of the wall that fell on Prakash was built on a 100-year-old foundation of the erstwhile Central Jail.

To parry questions on the case, the Palike has triggered a “jurisdictional war”. While the BBMP Projects Department, which executed the work, passed the buck to the Palike West Zone, the West Zone engineers blamed the department for the tragedy.

While the BBMP is reluctant to nail the culprits, the Upparpet police have washed their hands of the case saying “it was Prakash’s fault to have come near the no-parking zone”.

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(Published 28 April 2011, 19:07 IST)

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