Officers taken to task for choked drains

To assess the damage, Siddaiah on Saturday visited those areas which suffered the wrath of rain fury for the last three days. Besides a boy being washed away in the rain, as many as 38 trees were uprooted smashing at least four cars and damaging the roof of a building.

The commissioner expressed his displeasure at construction material of a building belonging to Pan Asia littered on Vittal Mallya Road. The construction material choked the drains, which led to flooding in the area. He directed the zonal commissioner of
East Zone to levy a penalty of Rs one lakh on the builder.

The commissioner also inspected Kasturba Road, MG Road, Kamaraj Road, Banaswadi Road, Frazer Town Road and St Marks Road and found that none of the shoulder drains on these roads were clean despite repeated instructions for the last one year. He gave an ultimatum of three days to clear the shoulder drains.

The commissioner then visited many parks in CV Raman Nagar, Banaswadi and St John's Road and directed the officials of horticulture department to ensure that rainwater harvesting is implemented there. During the inspection of Jayamahal Road, Nandidurga Road, Benson Town, Cross Road and Bore Bank Road he found the slab stones on the footpath placed haphazardly. He directed the engineer to set the problem right.

Firemen fail to trace Aravind’s body

Thirteen-year-old Aravind, who was swept away in a link canal of the Vrushabhavathi River on Friday afternoon, remained untraceable even after 36 hours despite a combing operation conducted by a team of 65 people.

“We had formed three teams today (Saturday) and used a boat to trace the boy. We searched till Kumbalgodu but could not find him. Tomorrow we will launch our operation again,” Corporator of Hampinagar ward, R Chandrashekharaiah said.

Aravind was playing cricket near the canal when the ball fell into it. In a bid to get the ball, the boy went near the canal and fell into the water and was washed away. Soon, the BBMP head office was alerted and rescue teams from the Palike and Fire and Emergency Service department were rushed to the spot.

An extensive search operation, which began on Friday, continued through Saturday till 9 pm.

The boy was a student of Mount Austin School in Dipanjali Nagar and had passed class six. The youngest of five children, Aravind was the only male child of Devamma and Hanumantharayappa.