DRAIN DEATHS

DRAIN DEATHS
The city’s drains are a phenomenon — they have low or non-existent retaining walls, are choked with garbage, and are a disaster during rain. Slums line them on either side. Once in a while, they claim a life or two. Aarthi R braves the stench to check out the dangers

Bangalore: It’s been over a week now. Bujiya is yet to recover from the tragic loss of her 18-month old Praveen, who drowned in a 20-ft-deep drain, part of the Vrishabhavathi Valley stretch at Flower Garden slum, opposite BHEL factory.
It took her more than three hours to see the body, which had to be traced and lifted up. Ramanna, another labourer, brought up Praveen’s body on a ladder. Bujiya and her husband, Mallappa, a road worker, are from Kollur and have been living here for the last three years. Praveen’s death is the first in the area.
Bujiya is still clueless about how her baby, left on the road to play, landed in the drain, which was out of his reach, unless helped. Investigations are still on and life at the slum is slowly getting back to normal, but why do precious lives go down the drain?
The primary blame lies with the authorities, who have not fenced the retention wall. Even after the incident, slum-dwellers here say there has been no official initiative. While a few drains have been fenced recently — like on Assaye Road — there are many which are ignored, some in the heart of the city. Even ‘posh’ localities are not spared — the stretch between Moore Road and Stephen’s Road in Fraser Town is lined with elegant bungalows. Each square foot here costs Rs 8,000-10,000, but many live amidst the stench of the open drain.
Worse still are the conditions at the Sudamanagar drain, diagonally opposite Shantinagar KSRTC bus stand on Double Road. A part of the drain collapsed a few months ago, after a tree fell into the drain, and is yet to be repaired. Located at the entry to narrow cross roads, it becomes a dangerous stretch for passers-by. Especially for street kids, who have easy access to the rusted pipeline running across the drain. In fact, they enjoy walking across, unmindful of the deadly fall into the stinking drain below.
“Many don’t listen to us. When we try to catch them, they run recklessly across the pipe, increasing the risk,’’ says an astrologer who has his tiny establishment right opposite this spot. He has predicted the truth to many childless couples and jobless youngsters, but claims he cannot predict when the drain will be repaired!
Many also complain of the lack of civic sense among people, who use the drain for dumping garbage. Two of the three vents have been clogged by the remains of a suitcase, thermocol sheets, cycle tyres and tubes — to name a few. With reduced outflow, the drain overflows during rain, to the despair of the surrounding areas.
It would be unfair to blame only the authorities. People themselves walk into danger, preferring to tread adventurously over the drain to save a few minutes. On Gandhigrama Church Road, children and even the aged use the drain right behind the church to trot across to the adjoining new corporation colony. And a few risk a short ride over the crudely-laid stone blocks, even if it involves gymnastics and slippery danger. This has been happening for the last 25 years, and what gives them easy access into the drain is the low retention wall with shoddy fencing.
Walk on the wild side
The recent incident at the Flower Garden slum does not seem to have taught many lessons. Despite the loss of little Praveen, people still walk on the drain wall, though they join in to complain about the lack of measures taken by the civic authorities. Not many have taken the initiative to cover the huge 6-ft pit by the roadside that connects to the drain, where the slum kids play most often.
Despite a concrete slab lying right next to the pit, it has remained uncovered for the last two years now. “We don’t know who has to cover it. We are also waiting to get it closed,’’ is all they say.
toiblr.reporter@timesgroup.com

This drain on Double Road, popularly called the Sudamanagar drain, is in pathetic shape. Two of the three vents below are clogged with garbage. Bent and broken pipes make it more dangerous


Residents of the Flower Garden slum gather around a 6-foot pit that connects to the 20-foot drain. The dry pit has been open for two years


Sudamanagar drain (left) that runs across the busy Double Road is clogged with garbage and overflows during showers. Little Praveen’s brother sits atop the retention wall of the drain, near Flower Garden slum, into which he fell a week ago