In blind-BBMP land, one-eyed MEG is king

Joint search begins for Abhisheks body

The Madras Engineering Group (MEG) and the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), on record, began a joint search operation Monday, for the body of six-year-old Abhishek, who was washed away in an overflowing storm water drain over
a week ago.

While the beleaguered BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya was happy to get Army help, MEG officials were clueless as to why they were being roped in.

Though BBMP officials, from the Commissioner down to the Engineer-in-Chief, claimed that the MEG had the expertise to conduct the search, MEG insiders said they did not have the most important component of the search - the trench diggers.

“The flow of water indicates the direction in which the body could have been washed away. The Irrigation Department or the State Public Works Department are adept at ascertaining this.

The MEG is expected to be only a working party. It is nothing but passing the buck,” said a military source.

Modalities decided

However, for the record, the Army and BBMP have both agreed on the modalities of the search operation. Accordingly, a joint communique will be issued by both the parties everyday on the progress of the search.

As many as 60 army personnel and 40 to 50 casual labourers will be deployed for the search along with Grappnels and JCBs from the Palike.

A release from the Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) stated that the MEG’s role will be limited to de-weeding the Hennur Lake, where they suspect Abhishek’s body to be.

“It is strange that the body has not yet been found and we cannot be sure if we can find it. But there is a possibility that it could have been stuck in the huge weeds that have grown in the Hennur Lake,” said Karnataka and Kerala Sub-area Colonel Group Staff S Kempraj.

The BBMP Commissioner said the Army will first clear the top half of the lake and later get to other portions.

“They have said that the eight-kilometre stretch desilted by our men need not be searched again and will move on,” Subramanya said.  

Meanwhile, the BBMP is in for more trouble with garbage piling up in Wards 88 and 89, just where Abhishek was washed away by the waters of a clogged drain.

“Since the culverts have been opened up for the desilting work, roads have been blocked and the garbage is piling up. Trucks cannot reach these roads to remove the waste,” the Commissioner explained.
DH News Service