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Public anger over the failure to track Abhishek’s body swelled as the Karnataka High Court pulled up the Palike and also blamed the elected representatives.
The court expressed shock that no elected representative bothered to visit the boy’s bereaved family.
Moved by the sorrow of Abhishek’s parents and other relatives, the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) directed the BBMP to pay Rs 3 lakh as compensation to the family.
SHRC action
“We have taken suo motu cognisance of the case and have sought a report from the BBMP Commissioner on why the civic body failed to locate Abhishek’s body,” SHRC chairman Justice (retired) S R Nayak told Deccan Herald.
For all of Wednesday, no less than 50 fire department personnel and sanitary workers used desilting machines to continue with the search operation. Abhishek’s body could not be traced even as one slab after another over the storm drain was removed as part of the search exercise.
The drainage network was choked with silt, stones, construction material, plastic water bottles, polypacks and other household stuff.
Noxious gases from the drain made the fire fighters and sanitary workers sick.
Hoping to find the body if a portion of the drain was desilted, Bruhat Bangaluru Mahangara Palike joint commissioner (east zone) S Puttaswamy said: “We hope the body is found when desilting a kilometre-long stretch is done. For the past 72 hours, my men have been working tirelessly, but without much success.”
Abhishek’s mother, Bharathi, continued to remain in a critical condition and had to be administered intravenous fluids.
HC observation
Taking exception to the Bruhat Bangaluru Mahangara Palike’s apathy, Justice Ram Mohan Reddy of the Karnataka High Court observed while hearing a petition related to EWS quarters: “The other day a child was washed away. They haven’t found the body. This is how officials work. When it comes to votes, the elected representatives go to people with folded hands. Now there is not even a word of sympathy. We have lost sense of humanity.”
Besides directing the Bruhat Bangaluru Mahangara Palike’s to investigate the incident the State Human Rights Commission has taken up the case of Bindiya, who was electrocuted at Visvesvaraya Park in Vijayanagar on May 27.
Moved by Abhishek’s death, around 50 children from Bharathinagar locality and surrounding areas will hold a protest march to the Bruhat Bangaluru Mahangara Palike’s head office on Thursday at 11 am with a request to the Bruhat Bangaluru Mahangara Palike Commissioner Dr S Subramanya to protect them from the open drains.
Former Bharathinagar Corporator M Pari would lead the march.