Even as the residents of Lakshman Rao Nagar slum are grappling with the death of seven-year-old Arun Prashanth, Maverick Holdings are planning to start the excavation work again that had stopped two weeks back due to heavy rains.
Silence engulfs across 1st cross and neighbouring lanes of Lakshman Rao Nagar slum ever since the boy drowned by slipping into the ditch dug up by Maverick Holdings inside the demolished Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) site, Ejipura.
While the parents of the deceased were shell shocked to even speak, one of the residents who stays on the same lane, Veena K, said: “The place where the accident happened is opposite Koramangala Primary Health Centre ( PHC) and there are no security guards put up near that place. Most of them just guard the other end of the plot. We are afraid to send our children now.”
A security guard, under condition of anonymity, claimed that the allegation was false. “We always tell the children and even adults who come inside the site to go away. But, they never listen. There are around 27 security guards in and around the site who work on shifts.
“A few of the barricades have been breached by Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board ( BWSSB) who are undertaking work on laying of the sewage pipelines along the site peripheries.”
Xavier, a 16-year-old resident of the EWS Quarters , who was evicted, said, “I was going along with my friends to the site as it is vacant and huge to fly kites and play other games. “But now, I am terrified to enter and my parents warn me not to go. There is no playground nearby and we are forced to play on footpath itself.”
Maverick Holdings & Investment Private Limited
(MHIPL), on Monday, claimed that they will resume excavation work at the EWS quarters site, Ejipura once rains subside. Managing Director of Maverick Holdings, Uday Garudachar, maintained that the excavation work that started in the end of June 2013 for the construction of mall-cum-residential complex inside the quarters came to an halt due to heavy rains.
He also added that his company had earlier approached the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) seeking approval for building plans. However, they are yet to get the clearance.
Meanwhile, BDA Commissioner Shyam Bhat said that they can give clearance to Maverick only after taking consent from the government officials and other higher authorities.